Dianthus armeria Deptford Pink

An attractive annual (or short-lived perennial) with narrow, opposite leaves and flowers with 5 bright pink petals with serrated edges and mottled with paler markings. It grows in open base-rich, early successional habitats where there is some disturbance, such as in waste places, along roadsides and in open mosaic sites. Populations rely on seed productions for long term survival but they are often quite casual, especially where successional changes result in agressive competition from perennial spcies like Bramble (Rubus fruticosus agg.), coarse grasses and invasive neophytes like Tall Melilot (Melilotus atissimus) and Japanese Knotweed (Reynoutria japonica). The extent to which an effective seed bank is maintained in the soil is not clear, but plants produce hundreds of seeds which become dormant in the soil and may remain viable there for decades. After germination a rosette is formed in the summer which overwinters before giving rise to a flowering plant. Observations also indicate that rosettes may form on rootstocks at the bases of old plants which allows them to perennate for at least for another year. Deptford Pink is a designated scarce, native species in Britain although its precise status as a native species is questionable in some places. There have been populations in West Glamorgan on Baglan Energy Park in Neath Port Talbot for several decades and one large population on the banks of the Triangular Pond, near the Energy Centre, has been monitored for over 20 years. During this time the size of the population has fluctuated from about 50 to over one thousand individuals in some years. Its long term survival has been helped by regular management which has involved removal or cutting of woody species and other invasive perennials. It is county flower for Neath Port Talbot.

Native