Wildflower - Deptford Pink

I started noticing many small pink flowers growing along the pipeline access road at our cabin. At first I thought it was some run-a-way Sweet-William plants from our barn property. These plants were much smaller and the flowers weren't bunched together like the Sweet William.



I have now identified the flower as Deptford Pink (Dianthus armeria), a member of the Pink family (Caryophyllaceae). This non-native plant comes from Europe and gets its name from the town of Deptford, England where the plant grew abundantly. The Sweet-William is a garden relative of the Deptford Pink. The seed for this plant may have been transported to our property during construction of the access road.