Dianthus armeria subsp. armeria

Grass pink, deptford pink, Deptford Pink

Family: Caryophyllaceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Grass pink is a naturalized annual found in the Klamath Ranges, northern California Coast Ranges, California Ranges, Cascades, Sierra Nevada, Peninsular Ranges, and Great Basin regions in disturbed areas at elevations of 400 to 2,000 meters. Flowering from spring to summer, this plant produces delicate pink or rose flowers with white dots, 4 to 5 millimeters across, arranged in loose terminal clusters. Growing 15 to 70 centimeters tall with a slender taproot and thin stems, it develops both basal and stem leaves that transition from lanceolate near the base to narrow and linear toward the top. Its leaves range from broader lance-shaped at the base to nearly linear on the stems, creating a distinctive growth pattern. The plant has moderately hairy calyxes with 20 to 25 prominent ribs, giving it a textured appearance in disturbed habitats.

Habitat: Disturbed areas

Bloom period: Spring-summer

Elevation: 400-2000 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoRO, NCoRI, CaR, SNH, PR, SNE

California counties: San Diego, Marin, Butte, Colusa, Tehama, Trinity, Plumas, Inyo, Mariposa, Placer, Siskiyou, Shasta, Tuolumne

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.