Dianthus barbatus L.
sweet William
Tufted perennial. Flowering stems erect, glabrous, 15-30-(60) cm tall; non-flowering stems usually present at flowering. Basal lvs soft, spreading, oblanceolate, acute or subacute, bright green, glabrous except for short coarse cilia c. 0.1 mm long on margin, 2-10 × 1-2 cm; cauline lvs similar, erecto- patent, becoming smaller above. Fls in clusters of 15-30 or more; pedicels < calyx. Epicalyx scales 4, ovate, awned, c. = calyx. Calyx cylindric, not narrowed at apex, glabrous, 15-20 mm long; teeth narrow-triangular, acuminate, 4-6 mm long; margins ciliate. Petals white, pink or red, often patterned, shortly dentate, bearded. Carpophore 3-4 mm long; capsule 10-15 mm long. Seeds ovate, black, c. 2.5 mm long.
N.: Northland, Auckland, Wellington; S.: Canterbury, Otago.
Europe, W. Asia 1872
Occasional garden escape or discard in grassy waste places.
D. barbatus persisted for a few years after being deliberately sown in 1965 on Raoul Id crater, Kermadec Is.
