Saponaria officinalis
bouncing-bet, bouncing-bet soapwort, bouncing-bett, common soapwort, saponaire officinale, soapwort, sweet william
erect, simple or branched distally, 30–90 cm.
petiole often absent or winged, 0.1–1.5 cm;
blade strongly 3(–5)-veined, elliptic to oblanceolate or ovate, 3–11(–15) × 1.5–4.5 cm.
1–5 mm.
sometimes double;
calyx green or reddish, often cleft, 15–25 mm, glabrous or rarely with scattered trichomes;
petals pink to white, often drying to dull purple, blade 8–15 mm.
ca. 15–20 mm.
1.6–2 mm wide.
dense to open.
= 28.
Saponaria officinalis
Saponaria officinalis, long cultivated for its showy flowers, is a widely naturalized, sometimes troublesome weed. It may persist for years about abandoned home sites. “Double”-flowered horticultural forms, which may lack functional stamens, also occur in the wild, where locally they may be as common as, or even more common than, “single”-flowered forms.
In former times, the leaves of this species were gathered and either soaked or boiled in water, the resulting liquid being used for washing as a liquid soap. Because of its saponin content, the species can be poisonous upon ingestion, in much the same manner as Agrostemma githago.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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