Key to Dianthus

View taxon page for Dianthus

(For a list of species in Dianthus, use the above link.)

Jepson Manual glossary definitions can be seen by moving your cursor over words underlined with dots.

1. Flower or flowers not subtended by 

involucre 

Group of bracts more or less held together as a unit, subtending a flower, fruit (acorn cup), or inflorescence.

 bracts, generally 1 in axils; stamens 5; calyx tube 0.8–1 mm diam, ribs 15 ..... D. nudiflorus

1' Flower or flowers subtended by 2–6 involucre bracts, 1–many in terminal inflorescence; stamens 10; calyx tube 1.8–3.3 mm diam, ribs 20–45[60]

2. Flowers few to many; 

pedicels 

Stalk of an individual flower in an inflorescence, or the corresponding structure in fruit.

0–3 mm; bracts 

linear 

Elongate, with nearly parallel sides; narrower than elliptic or oblong.

to 

lanceolate 

Narrowly elongate, widest in the basal half, often tapered to an acute tip.

, mostly >= calyx tube, long-tapered

3. Calyx moderately hairy; cauline 

leaf 

Organ arising from a stem, generally composed of a stalk (petiole) and a flat, expanded, green, photosynthetic area (blade); distinguished from a leaflet by the presence in its axil of a bud, branch, thorn, or flower; sometimes with lateral, basal appendages (stipules); either simple (toothed, lobed, or dissected but not divided into leaflets) or compound (divided into leaflets).

± linear; fruit stalk ± 1 mm ..... D. armeria subsp. armeria

3' Calyx glabrous; cauline leaf ± lanceolate; fruit stalk 3–4 mm ..... D. barbatus subsp. barbatus

2' Flowers 1–few; pedicels mostly 5–25 mm; bracts 

ovate 

Egg-shaped (i.e., widest below the middle) in two dimensions (i.e., in one plane), as a leaf.

or obovate, 1/4–1/2 × calyx tube, 

acute 

Having a short-tapered, sharp tip, the sides convex or straight and converging at less than a right angle.

to short-tapered

4. Petal limb 4–9 mm, tip irregularly toothed ..... D. deltoides subsp. deltoides

4' Petal limb 8–15 mm, tip divided to narrow segments ..... [D. plumarius subsp. plumarius]

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