Deptford pink  (Dianthus armeria)

The main factors in the disappearance of the Deptford pink are the loss of pasture and the destruction of hedgerows. Many of the meadows where it formerly grew have been converted to arable or turned into building land. The reduction in grazing has also contributed to the scarcity of this attractive plant.

The Deptford pink is listed under the UK Biodiversity Action Plans and included in English Nature’s Species Recovery Programme. It is also part of Plantlife’s ‘Back from the Brink’ project.

The most urgent tasks to preserve this plant are to maintain its current range and manage viable populations on all the present sites. Plantlife and English Nature’s report on Deptford pink for the year 2000 recommended active management of the surviving sites to prevent over-grazing by rabbits and shading out by other plants. Seed has been collected and stored at the Millennium Seed Bank at Wakehurst Place, part of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. This seed may be used for ex-situ propagation and a reintroduction programme if this becomes necessary.

New sites are being discovered each year but all are vulnerable to development or accidental damage. There seems to be a buried seed bank which, following disturbance, produces new plants. Habitat restoration projects may stimulate this seed bank to germinate but it is easy to become complacent. The plant is still very uncommon and could still be lost as a British species.

It is also important that the Deptford pink’s plight is publicised, along with many other farmland plants in danger of disappearing through intensive agricultural practice. These other plants include interrupted brome, cornflower and purple ramping fumitory.