A flowering plant, Dianthus barbatus, in the family Caryophyllaceae, native to the mountains of southern Europe from the Pyrenees east to the Carpathians and the Balkans
Of flowers there were double poppies and sweet-williams. - The Woman At The Store, from Selected Short Stories by Katherine Mansfield (first published in 1912).
An annual, biennial, or perennial herb (Dianthus barbatus), native to Eurasia, widely cultivated as an ornamental for its flat-topped dense clusters of varicolored flowers. a plant with sweet-smelling flowers (From the male name William). Garden plant (Dianthus barbatus) in the pink family, grown for its clusters of small, brightly coloured flowers. It usually grows as a biennial, with seed sown the first year producing spring-flowering plants the second year. The plants grow about 2 ft (60 cm) high and produce numerous flowers with fringed petals in white, pink, or rose to violet, sometimes also bicoloured