Sweet William

Sweet William a Eurasian pink widely grown for its clusters of small bright-coloured flowers. Biennial to perennial plant belonging to the pink family, native to southern Europe. It is grown for its fragrant red, white, and pink flowers. Georg Friedrich Händel composed “See the Conquering Hero Comes” in honour of the victorious Duke of Cumberland. The flower sweet William was named after the latter in England.

Dianthus
Dianthus barbatus flower
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Caryophyllales
Family:	Caryophyllaceae
Genus:	Dianthus L.
species
About 300 species; see text

Web sites

• http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Dianthus
• sweet William, or bunch pink, or Dianthus barbatus, or sour Billy, or stinking Willie (plant)
• Flora of China
• Flora of the British Isles