Larch-leaved pink
Dianthus laricifolius
Family · Caryophyllaceae · Harmless
The pink with leaves as fine as pine needles, growing on rocky outcrops and schist scrub, with pink flowers fringed at the petal tips.
Scrubland · Uplands · Walls and rocks · Roadsides and waste ground
Also known asneedle-leaved pink
How to tell it
A subshrub in a dense tuft, with very narrow, stiff, sharp leaves in pairs at each node, which give the larch-leaf name. Pink flowers two to three centimetres, solitary or paired, each petal cut into fine teeth at the edge. A four-angled stem with swollen nodes. Iberian endemic.
What it is confused with
Lusitanian pink
Dianthus lusitanus
They are very close and both endemic. They are separated by bract and leaf details needing a botanical key, and neither carries risk, so the distinction matters to the botanist and not to the walker.
What it is for
No use
It is worth it as the commonest wild pink of Portuguese inland scrub, and for showing the family's mark clearly: swollen stem nodes and fringed petals.
Where it occurs
Each square is an area with recorded observations of this plant. The lighter background is the set of areas where any of the entries has been observed, and serves as a reference. Note what this is not: it is not where the plant lives, it is where people record it, so trails and towns always look fuller than the mountains. Data from GBIF.
Sources
Community
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