Caryophyllaceae

(Pink Family)

Habit

herbs, stems often with swollen nodes

Leaves

opposite, simple, entire, with or without stipules

Inflorescence

cymose

Flowers

perfect, regular, some with a hypanthium

Sepals

5, distinct or connate into a long tube

Petals

5-0, distinct, often pinked as in pinking shears at end of blade

Stamens

10, distinct

Ovary

superior, of 2-5 carpels with 1 locule and many free-central ovules or 1 basal ovule

Fruit

a capsule or an achene

Diversity

75 genera / 2000 species

Distribution

temperate regions in Northern Hemisphere; many in Mediterranean

Economics

many ornamentals (Carnation) and some wide-spread weeds (eg., Chickweed--Cerastium)

Notes

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Images

• ">Vascular Plant Image Gallery (Texas A&M Bioinformatics Working Group)
• Wisconsin State Herbarium
• ">Google Images