sweet william

a pink, Dianthus barbatus, having clusters of small, variously colored flowers.

Also called bunch pink.

Origin of sweet william

First recorded in 1555–65

She picked lavender and sweet-william and pinks, and bunched them up together.

The Pot of Gold |Mary E. Wilkins
It feeds on the seeds of catchfly, campion, and will eat those of sweet-william and garden pinks.

The Moths of the British Isles, First Series |Richard South
Beside it is the mossy burial-ground, where prim old ladies walk on Sunday afternoons, with sprigs of sweet-william.

Saint Patrick |Heman White Chaplin
By his side was a basin tied up in a cotton handkerchief; in the buttonhole of his coat there was a sprig of sweet-william.

Very Short Stories and Verses For Children |Mrs. W. K. Clifford

With this class belongs the Sweet-William (dianthus barbatus), which should be sown and treated in a like manner.

The Garden, You, and I |Mabel Osgood Wright

sweet william

a widely cultivated Eurasian caryophyllaceous plant, Dianthus barbatus, with flat clusters of white, pink, red, or purple flowers