Introduction:

• Carnation is one of the most commercial flowers of the world.
• Excellent keeping quality, wide range of forms and color, ability to with stand for long distance transportation and to rehydrate along with its lighter weight have made carnation flower a unique item in cut flower trade.

Importance and uses:

• Cut carnations are sold in the western countries all the year round.
• Standard types are in greater demand and miniature types are used in floral arrangement.
• In standard carnations, white and pink are in greater demand than red, yellow and bicolours.
• The carnations are also used for the extraction of perfume.

Types of carnation:

The commonly cultivated two major groups of carnations:

(a) Outdoor: The outdoor carnations are hardy, early and have symmetrical flowers. Depending on the colour of flowers the outdoor carnations are grouped into the following groups:

(i) selfs – one colour only.

(ii) fancies – more than one colour, and

(iii)picotees – a ground of pale colour with an edge of a darker colour.

(b) Greenhouse carnation: The greenhouse carnations are mainly used for cut flowers and are grouped into two major classes:

i) Standard carnation – this type produces one large bloom on a long flower stalk: Miledy, Castellaro, Manon, Decio, Delphi, Nelson, Ivonne, Raggio di Sole, Pallas, Francesco etc are popular cultivars.

ii) Spray carnation – this produces many flowers of smaller size and is better adapted to warm climate: Natalia, Scarlette, Barbara, Lior, Medea, Bagatelle, Stephanie, Kortina, Princessa, Rony, Karina etc are popular cultivars.