Carnation

Carnation, one of the finest of florists' flowers, a double-flowering variety of the Clove Pink (Dianthus caryophyllus, see PINK), and existing only in a state of cultivation, of which, however, we have traditions as early as the 13th century. The taller Tree Carnations (D. fruticosus, usually reckoned a sub-species or variety of the preceding) are less esteemed by florists. 'Scarlet, purple, and pink are the prevailing colours; but whatever are the colours of a carnation, it is of no value in the eyes of a florist unless they are perfectly distinct. Fullness and perfect regularity are also deemed essential.' Despite this crude standard of selective taste, happily now developing towards a subtler and more refined appreciation of form and colour, the varieties are extremely numerous: those which have only one colour, disposed in large stripes through the white ground of the petals, are called Flake Carnations; those which have two or three shades of colour, also in stripes, Bizarre Carnations; and those which have the edge bordered with a different colour from the white or yellow ground are called Picotées; in these the limb is often spotted and the petals fringed. By French florists a different but equally arbitrary classification is adopted. Carnations are propagated in summer either by layers or by pipings, which are short cuttings of shoots that have not yet flowered, each having two joints.