Greek gypsos—chalk, phileo—to love, referring to the occurrence of the plant mostly on chalky soils.
Annual or perennial herbs. Leaves sometimes fleshy. Flowers small, numerous, mostly in branching, open clusters. Sepals fused, 5-toothed with 1 vein to each tooth. Petals 5, entire or notched, without a narrowed base and also without scales at the throat. Stamens 10. Styles 2; mostly in summer. Ovary often with a short stalk. Fruit a 1-celled capsule splitting open with 4 teeth.
Seeds and division.
Often with open, branching clusters of numerous small, starry flowers.
About 150 species from Asia and SE Europe (1 isolated species in Australia and New Zealand).
Lawrence (1953), Barkoudh (1962).
Source: (1997). Caryophyllaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 2. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 1. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.
