康乃馨学名“香石竹”，英语是“carnation” ，试着读一下看看，是不是觉得中文发音和英语的好像?对啦，中文里的康乃馨就是英语发音的音译。另外，它也可以被叫做“grenadine”和“clove pink”

为什么母亲节要送康乃馨呢?

Carnations have come to represent Mother’s Day, since Anna Jarvis delivered 500 of them at its first celebration in 1908. Many religious services held later copied the custom of giving away carnations. This also started the custom of wearing a carnation on Mother’s Day. The founder, Anna Jarvis, chose the carnation because it was the favorite flower of her mother。

1908年，安娜贾维斯(Anna Jarvis) 送给在西弗吉尼亚州 Grafton Andrews 的循道圣公会教堂500朵白色康乃馨，希望把这些花分送给大家的母亲们，自此以后，康乃馨就被用来作为母亲节的代表物了。安娜贾维斯之所以选择康乃馨，是因为这是她母亲最喜欢的花。

康乃馨有很多种颜色，分别有什么涵义吗?

In part due to the shortage of white carnations, and in part due to the efforts to expand the sales of more types of flowers in Mother’s Day, the florists promoted wearing a red carnation if your mother was living, or a white one if she was dead。

一方面因为白色康乃馨数量有限，另一方面为了扩大在母亲节有更多品种的花卉出售，花商推荐说如果母亲仍健在，就送红色的康乃馨，而白色的康乃馨则是送给已过世的母亲。