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Caryophyllaceae family

Carnation Dianthus caryophyllus

Also known as: Clove Pink

Carnation is an introduced perennial herb, found in the lower 48 states. It grows to 1.8 ft.

More about this plant

Dianthus caryophyllus, commonly known as carnation or clove pink, is a species of Dianthus native to the Mediterranean region. While its exact natural range is uncertain due to extensive cultivation over the last 2,000 years, wild carnations are most common in the Mediterranean region. Carnations are prized for their wide variety of colors, delicate fringed petals, and fragrance, often described as spicy, clove-like, or reminiscent of a combination of cinnamon and nutmeg, hence the common name "clove pink". This aroma has made carnations a popular choice for use in perfumes, potpourri, and scented products. Culturally, carnations are associated with affection, distinction, and maternal love, with variations depending on color and area within its wide geographical range. Wikipedia →

Growing & care

USDA PLANTS · TRY
Conditions
Sources · Conditions
Cold hardiness (derived) — Hardiness
Hardiness
≥ zone 7 derived from its U.S. range
Size & form
Sources · Size & form
TRY Plant Trait Database (CC BY 4.0) — Height · Foliage
USDA PLANTS — Lifespan
Height
1.8 ft
Lifespan
Perennial
Foliage
Broadleaf
In the garden
Herb layer — Sits in the herb of a layered food forest or polyculture.Open guide →
derived roles
Species characteristics from USDA PLANTS (public domain) + TRY (CC BY) — general guidance, not a guarantee for your exact site. Deer "browsing" is documented palatability, not a deer-proof claim.

Wildlife & pollinators

How pollinator value is scored →
❧ Caterpillar hosts ~10 caterpillar species

Dianthus supports ~10 caterpillar species.

Native butterfly & moth caterpillars are the base of the terrestrial food web — most songbirds rear their young almost entirely on them. As a host for native Lepidoptera this is a moderate genus for introduced plants — native genera typically support far more.

Recorded feeding on Dianthus in North America, including:

Argyrotaenia citrana · leafroller moth ✦ Cacoecimorpha pronubana · Carnation Tortix ✦ Choristoneura rosaceana · Oblique-Banded Leafroller ✦ Helicoverpa zea · Corn Earworm ✦ Noctua pronuba · Large Yellow Underwing ✦ Papaipema nebris · Stalk Borer ✦
+ 8 more species →
Peridroma saucia · Pearly Underwing ✦ Platynota flavedana · Black-Shaded Platynota Moth ✦ Platynota stultana · Omnivorous Leaf-Roller ✦ Pyrrharctia isabella · Isabella Tiger Moth ✦ Trichoplusia ni · owlet moth ✦ Chlorochlamys chloroleucaria · geometer (inchworm) moth Hadena capsularis · owlet moth Hendecasis duplifascialis · snout moth
Keystone count (genus-level) from Warren II 2026 (CC0) · Tallamy host-use records. Named species (a documented Nearctic sample, not exhaustive) from NHM HOSTS (CC0). ✦ = recorded on this exact species.
✦ Bees 3 bee visitors
Visitor records (observations, not exhaustive) from Noori et al. 2026 (CC BY 4.0) · GloBI →
Wildlife & visitors 1 nectaring

Open records of who else uses Carnation — a generalist food-web signal, kept separate from the keystone Ecological Value.

1 adult butterfly & moth species is recorded nectaring at its flowers:

Vanessa atalanta · Red Admiral
Interaction records (observations, not exhaustive) from GloBI → (CC0). Counts are distinct species; names are the most-recorded. Common names from Wikidata (CC0).
Species thumbnails re-hosted from iNaturalist — Creative Commons, credited per image (hover for credit). Click any species to see it on iNaturalist. Not exhaustive; many taxa have no openly-licensed photo yet.
How we know this (1) Methods & honest limits
Photosynthesis Direct fact

A recorded categorical fact: each species is tagged C3 (standard), C4 (heat/water-efficient) or CAM (succulent, night-time CO₂ uptake) — or a facultative combination. We only show a trait card for the noteworthy C4/CAM cases; C3 is the unremarkable majority, kept in the data but not surfaced as a card.

Kattge, J. et al. TRY plant trait database — Categorical Traits Dataset (2012).
Derived values are computed from open data by a published method — labelled, cited, and never shown as a direct observation. Full methodology →
Sources for this entry (23) Open & cited
[01] Scientific name & family — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[02] Growth habit & duration — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[03] Native status & distribution — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[04] Common name — USDA PLANTS (via GBIF)
[05] Invasive / introduced status — US-RIIS v2.0 (USGS)
[07] Description — Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
[08] Ecological value — Warren II 2026 (CC0) · Tallamy host-use counts
[11] Functional traits — TRY Plant Trait Database (CC BY 4.0)
[12] Photosynthetic pathway — TRY Plant Trait Database (CC BY 4.0)
[13] Cold hardiness (derived) — Derived from U.S. range × USDA PHZM zones
[14] Wildlife & visitors — GloBI — Global Biotic Interactions (CC0)
[18] Other common names — Wikidata (CC0)
[20] Flower-visitor value (derived) — Noori et al. 2026 (CC BY 4.0) · GloBI
[21] Caterpillar host count — Warren II 2026 (Dryad, CC0) · Tallamy host-use counts
[22] Caterpillar species — NHM HOSTS (CC0)
[23] County range — GBIF Open Data — open-licensed occurrences (CC0/CC-BY) → county
Spot an error or have a better photo? Every field links to its source, and the whole dataset is open.
Cite this page Open data, please attribute

PlantKey’s data is open under CC BY-SA 4.0 — free to reuse and adapt, with attribution and the same licence. Photos keep their own per-image licence + credit (see Sources above).

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