Mountain Lines
by Nelson Haas
DEPTFORD PINK – Dianthus armeria
Standing alone in a grassy field, border or right-of-way, the bright pinkish-red flower of the Deptford Pink always catches my eye this time of year. It likes a dry, compacted, clay soil in full sun making forest openings and abandoned logging roads a favorite habitat.
The Deptford Pink was first described in 1633 in the Deptford region of England by Thomas Johnson, an herbalist. Its genus name, armeria is a Latinized word from the old French: armoires meaning a cluster-headed dianthus.