Gardening Site Archive
Gardening Definitions and Factoids
Carnations
The carnation is a flowering plant native to the Near East and has been cultivated for the last 2,000 years. Its original natural flower colour was pinkish-hued, but later, cultivars of other colours, including red, white, yellow and green, have been developed. The carnation is the national flower of Spain.
Although originally applied to the species Dianthus caryophyllus, the name Carnation is also often applied to some of the other species of Dianthus, and more particularly to garden hybrids between D. caryophyllus and other species in the genus.
Some scholars believe that the name "carnation" comes from "coronation" or "corone" (flower garlands), as it was one of the flowers used in Greek ceremonial crowns. Others think the name stems from the Latin "carnis" (flesh), which refers to the original colour of the flower, or incarnacyon (incarnation), which refers to the incarnation of God made flesh.
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