Japanese name: ノハラナデシコ（野原撫子） Scientific name:Dianthus armeria
[Overview]
An annual or biennial 10–50 cm tall, found along roadsides, in pastures and similar places.
The upper part of the stem has curly hairs.
Leaves are simple and opposite, linear, with hairs on both surfaces and the margins.
The leaves stand upright.
Flowers grow in clusters of 2 to several at the stem tips and branch tips.
The flowers are 5-petaled, pale pink with many white dots, and the petal tips are cut into teeth.
At the base of the flower there is a pair of bracts and four bracteoles arranged crosswise in opposite pairs; the bracteoles stand upright and surround the calyx.
The bracts and bracteoles are linear.
The fruit is a cylindrical capsule that splits into 4 at the tip when ripe, releasing black seeds.
[History]
It was discovered and reported in Tochigi in 1966 and in Nagano in 1968, and is now found almost throughout Japan.
