# Flower ID help, please



## Vera (Aug 22, 2003)

Ok, this one has given me gray hairs, LOL! I can't seem to find it on any of the plant ID sites I have bookmarked.

I've seen only two patches of it, on either side of the intersection of rural street and hiking trail, and none further along the trail or out in the woods. So, I'm thinking that it's some sort of "escaped domestic" plant rather than a wildflower.
Either patch is maybe 30-40 feet in (irregular) diameter and relatively contained around the edges, not like a spreading of plants whose seeds are dispersed by wind or birds.

The plants grow singly, not in clumps. They're about 12 inches tall, a bit more where the grass is tall and dense, a bit less where there's more "breathing space". Each plant branches towards the top for the flower clusters, and there are also some secondary flower stems growing from the upper leaf axils in the bigger plants.
I think they started blooming right at the end of June/beginning of July, and they're still blooming now. Each individual little button flower is about 1/2 inch across.
The leaves on the whole plant are like in the pictures, skinny and long and pointy and relatively sparse. There are a few secondary leaves growing in some of the leaf axils. The leaves are very finely serrated, kinda stiff, and they feel rough to the touch (pebbly?). On the plant I brought home for better pictures, they're about an inch long.

Here are the pictures:


How it grows (pic taken 7-5):










Plant in the patch (7-5):










Note the "flat-topped" appearance (7-25):










Close-up of flower (7-25):










Flower, stem, leaves (the napkin has 1/4 inch checks):











Any ideas what this is?


----------



## naturelover (Jun 6, 2006)

Looks like it _might_ be a multi-petalled wild cultivar or hybrid of the dianthus (carnation) family. It has the same stalk, leaves and flower clusters. The white flowers of wild dianthus will have a little green center but I can't tell from your pictures if they have a green center.


----------



## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

I agree, looks like wild carnations to me too. Pretty!


----------



## marvella (Oct 12, 2003)

i concur.  they may also be what someone planted at some point?


----------



## PETSNEGGS (Oct 7, 2005)

Is it fragrant? It does look like it is from the dianthus family. Enjoy them...


----------



## Vera (Aug 22, 2003)

Hmmm... after looking at hundreds of carnation pictures and dianthus pictures and even checking caryophyllaceae just in case, I haven't seen a single one that looks like this one. Somewhat close, some of them, but definitely no cigar. I don't get it... this plant has to have come either from nature or from a nursery or seed company, therefore it has to be listed _somewhere_.

Considering that this is northern Minnesota where the climate gets kinda unfriendly at times, and nobody takes care of these flowers, they must be something pretty hardy. I did find a third patch, this one in the woods across the street from me (the other two are out in the open grass), and like the others, it's near a residence ruin.

Oh, and they have no noticeable scent. They're sure pretty though, and the one in the glass bottle stayed "fresh as a daisy" for a week. It would have lasted longer, but the cats decided to play with it, so it got dismembered on the floor and turned up its petals and died.

Even if there's no definite answer to what it is, I think I'll transplant some into a container  The blossoms are a bit bigger than baby's breath, and I bet they'd look great with delphinium and peonies in a bouquet.


----------



## mtnbluet881 (Jun 4, 2006)

I am always on the lookout for plants with their own personalities and this one--I will call 'wild carnation' until it is identified--sure fits the bill.

I love it--does it self seed? How does it propagate?


----------



## farmergirl (Aug 2, 2005)

They make Chunky Monkey milkshakes? :dance: I LOVE that flavor of Ben and Jerry's ice cream!


----------



## mtnbluet881 (Jun 4, 2006)

My vote is for a heirloom dianthus.

Check out Inchmery , an 18th century variety 

and then take a look at the picture of Frilled double pink dianthus 

If you combined the puffiness of Inchmery with the fringe of the double pink dianthus, I think you would come close to the beautiful flower you have.

Hopefully, you can propagate a bunch of these for dispersal to others   
because I believe what you have is rare, or, at the very least, uncommon.


----------



## MELOC (Sep 26, 2005)

dianthus veracae...lol


----------



## mtnbluet881 (Jun 4, 2006)

Sounds good to me. Now if we can only get Vera to send us all seeds, we have it made in the shade!! :baby04:


----------

