Caryophyllaceae

In this series, I aim to give you a quick introduction to some of the plant families found in the UK. Learning to identify plant families is a great help in identifying individual plant species you come across – if you know the family, then you know where to start looking for the species in a guide, and identifying the family is an achievement in itself. Plants are classified into families based on characteristics that they share; this is then narrowed down further into genera and then into species. So, the way to identify a plant’s family is to know these characteristic features. Here we’re going to look at the Caryophyllaceae – the carnation family or pink family. This is a family of around 2000 annual and perennial plants, mostly herbaceous. They are found throughout the world, though predominantly in the Northern Hemisphere temperate zones. The popular garden plants and cut flowers, pinks and carnations, are in the genus Dianthus in the Caryophyllaceae, as is baby’s breath, Gyposophila. The UK wild species are all herbaceous and either annuals or perennials. The flowers of this family¬ are regular, otherwise known as actinomorphic, with 5 petals and 5 sepals, though some species have 4 of each, and a couple have no petals at all. The petals are separate, while the sepals may be either separate or partially fused together. A nice characteristic feature of the petals is that in many species is that they are notched to form claws at the tips, or split down the middle partway, like in Silene, Stellaria and Lychnis. Sometimes this can make them look like they have more petals than they do. The petals are most often white or pink. Most Caryophyllaceae have 10 stamens, though this can vary with species. The ovary is attached above the rest of the floral parts, so is classed as a superior ovary. It ripens into a dry capsule which opens from the top to disperse the seeds. The stems of these plants are often swollen at the nodes: where the leaves meet the stem. The leaves themselves are undivided and smooth-edged, also known as simple and entire. They are arranged in opposite pairs on the stems. The bottoms of the paired leaves may join or almost join to encircle the stem, seen here in Silene dioica. So, if a plant has white or pink flowers with 5 notched or divided petals, dry fruits, simple and entire leaves that seem to join at the base, and swollen stem nodes, then it’s a fair bet it belongs in the Caryophyllaceae. See if you can find these 3 species on your travels: • Chickweed, Stellaria media, a common plant with light green leaves and little white, star-like flowers • Red campion, Silene dioica, a reasonably tall plant with pink flowers • Procumbent pearlwort, Sagina procumbens, a very low-growing plant with tiny white petals (or sometimes no petals) and narrow, dark green leaves [Note, botanical names should always be written in italics (or underlined if handwritten)]

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• #caryophyllaceae
• #pinks
• #dianthus
• #identification
• #family