A member of the pink family (sometimes carnation family), it IS in fact fairly closely related to the carnation. It is in the same genus as Silene virginica, which is a wonderful Missouri native called fire pink.
This little plant actually has a pretty big range. It is an alpine plant and lives quite far to the north. In the US it exists in most of the states west of Kansas (cept YOU California, deal with it). In Maine it may be extirpated and it is threatened in New Hampshire. When I see a plant like this that is relatively adapted to a wide range of geographic locations begin to disappear I start to wonder why.
But yes, so this plant MAY actually grow here in Missouri believe it or not. The key here is well drained soils. In its natural home it likes to live on rocky outcrops, lots of wind, not necessarily even a lot of water. It might tolerate a little more water than a few other rock garden plants but it does need to be well drained.
The neat thing about them is that they are an evergreen, with some really interesting foliage that you could almost mistake for a clump of moss if you weren't careful. It usually does not get very large but CAN get up to two feet in diameter. There are some really old plants up in Alaska and they are estimated around 350 years old.
But without further adieu, here ya go, a few pictures.
Habit
Close up of flowers and foliage
Don't plant in heavy soil :).
Images are Wikimedia Commons
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