Dianthus micropetalus, locally known as grashout

The flowers of Dianthus micropetalus are white or pink and small. They resemble tiny carnations, giving a clue about the plants relations. There may be one or more flowers on each wiry erect stalk. The sepals are joined in a long green calyx tube with bracts at the base of the flower. Petals broaden towards the tips and have serrated tip edges; the margins are entire along the sides. The flowers appear in spring and summer. 

The specific epithet denotes small petals. A cluster of curving white stamens can be seen protruding from the flower in picture. This photo was taken in the Karoo near Beaufort West. The sepals have already turned brown on the flower.

Dianthus is a genus in the Caryophylla or carnation family. There are more than 300 species in the genus, only 15 of them occurring in South Africa. Maybe the best known one is Dianthus mooiensis that is fairly common in Gauteng (Shearing and Van Heerden, 2008).