Significance

• All plants in the family Caryophyllaceae are part of the plant class known as the Angiospermae (flowering plants) and subclass Dicotyledonae, otherwise known as the dicotyledons or dicots.
  
  

Considerations

• Dicots present some basic features to distinguish them from monocotyledons (monocots). Dicots, like carnations, develop two embryo leaves from a germinating seed, display flowers with parts in multiples of fours or fives and have main veins that branch and are not parallel in pattern.
  
  

Insight

• While many carnations are double in form, having multiple rows of petals, close inspection of the flower's center will reveal the first row of petals. Carnations display petals in layer rows of fives -- perhaps best seen in single-form carnations in the Dianthus genus. This hints the plants are dicots.