grass pink

American  

noun

1. a pink, Dianthus plumarius, of Europe and Asia, having fragrant, fringed pink, purplish, or white flowers.

2. an orchid, Calopogon tuberosus, having clusters of rose or purplish-pink flowers, growing in bogs of eastern North America.

---

Etymology

Origin of grass pink

An Americanism dating back to 1810–20

Example Sentences

They said the bog’s namesake plants appear healthy, as do the carnivorous pitcher plants and the grass pink orchids blooming bits of rosy color amid swaths of leafy greens.

From Washington Times

Two rare orchid species, rose pogonia and grass pink, were rescued from a bog in Ocean County, N.J., that was about to be covered over by a road-widening project.

From New York Times

Traditionally, the April full moon is known as "the Pink Moon," supposedly as a tribute to the grass pink or wild ground phlox, considered one of the earliest widespread flowers of the spring.

From Scientific American

Mother Beckett dried her eyes with one of her dainty handkerchiefs which always smell like lavender and grass pinks—her leitmotif in perfume.

From Project Gutenberg

There are two kinds of pinks that ought to be set near the front rank because they don't grow very tall—the moss pink and the old-fashioned 'grass pink.'

From Project Gutenberg