Dianthus albens (Wild pink) is a species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae.
It is indigenous to the south western Cape of South Africa, where it occurs on sandy, rocky substrates, especially coastal, from the Cederberg in the Western Cape, southwards to the Cape Peninsula, and eastwards into the Eastern Cape province.Goldblatt, P. and Manning, J.C. 2000. Cape Plants: A conspectus of the Cape Flora of South Africa. Strelitzia 9. National Botanical Institute, Cape Town. p.460Dianthus albens - PlantzafricaDianthus albens - Hermanus Botanical Society
Description
Dianthus albens is a spreading or tufted herbaceous perennial, with semi-erect to upright stems reaching 35–40 cm, and with linear, opposite leaves.
The inflorescence is slender, leafless, and bears one-to-many white to purple flowers, in Spring, Summer and Autumn (Sept-Apr.). The petals have entire or crenate tips (rarely shallowly dentate/toothed).Burtt Davy, J. 1922. XXXIII. A Revision of the South African Species of Dianthus. Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information 7. pp. 209-223. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
The calyx is 12–18 mm in length, usually with 2 bract-pairs (sometimes with 1 or 3 bract pairs). The bracts have papery margins and reach max. 2/5 up the length of the calyx.Curtis-Scott, O. (2020) Field Guide to Renosterveld of the Overberg. Penguin Random House, Cape Town. p.252
When ripe, the seed capsule extends out beyond the calyx, by about 5 mm.Hooper, S.S. 1959. The genus Dianthus in central and South Africa. Hooker's Icones Plantarum 37:1-59. Bentham-Moxon Trust, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
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