.jpg)
Perennial Caryophyllaceae of indeterminate identity, this plant was born from a clandestine seed slipped by chance into an order of alpine plants. Its exact origin remains unknown, but the habit, foliage, and flower evoke the group of Dianthus deltoides or a related alpine taxon.
It develops numerous prostrate, long, and creeping stems, adorned with bright green linear foliage. The flowers, pale lilac pink, with five entire non-fringed petals, are adorned with a central eye marked with fine contrasting purplish-crimson spots, a detail that gives them a unique character despite their apparent simplicity. They are borne in small groups at the top of the stems and succeed in abundance.
This distinctly prostrate and very floriferous character, combined with the vigor of the plant spontaneously established in the rock garden, makes it an effective and discreet ground cover, whose precise botanical identity remains open to anyone who would like to elucidate it.
It is content with well-drained soil in full sun, conditions in which it demonstrates remarkable vitality for a plant of such uncertain origin.