Dianthus barbatus
Common name
Sweet William
Family
Caryophyllaceae
Flora category
Vascular – Exotic
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledons other than Composites
Conservation status
Not applicable
Flower colours
Red/Pink, Violet/Purple
Year naturalised
1872
Origin
Europe, W. Asia
Etymology
dianthus: From the Greek dios ‘god’ or ‘divine’ and anthos ‘flower, the divine flower
barbatus: From the Latin ‘barbus’, meaning bearded or provided with tufts of long weak hairs
Etymology note
One of the common names for Dianthus barbatus is ‘gilly-flower’ which is derived from the Greek name for the family Caryophyllaceae (Clayton, 1994).
References and further reading
Clayton, F. (1994). Deities in my Garden: Generic names for plants from old mythology. ETY Publishing Ltd: Paraparaumu, New Zealand.