Saponaria officinalis
Saponaria ocymoides
bouncing-bet, bouncing-bet soapwort, bouncing-bett, common soapwort, saponaire officinale, soapwort, sweet william
rock soapwort, saponaria
erect, simple or branched distally, 30–90 cm.
trailing, procumbent, or ascending, much-branched, 5–25 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.
petiole not winged, (0.1–)0.5–1(–3) cm;
blade 1-veined, spatulate to ovate-lanceolate, 0.6–2.5 × 0.3–1.4 cm.
1–5 mm.
2–6 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.
sometimes double;
calyx usually purple, not cleft, 7–12 mm, glandular-pubescent;
petals red or pink to white, blade 8–15 mm.
ca. 15–20 mm.
6–8 mm.
1.6–2 mm wide.
1.6–2 mm wide.
dense to open.
spreading, lax.
= 28.
= 28 (Europe).
Saponaria officinalis
Saponaria ocymoides
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.)
Saponaria ocymoides is a long-cultivated rock-garden and wall plant that is only rarely persistent outside of gardens.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
- Local floras:
BC, 
CA, 
OR, 
WA - Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos,
Flora NW, 
Go Botany, 
IL Wildflowers, 
KS Wildflowers, 
LA Plants, 
MD Biodiversity, 
MI Flora, 
MN Wildflowers, 
MO Plants, 
PNW Herbaria, Turner Photog. 
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
- Local floras: BC, OR, WA
- Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, Go Botany, MI Flora, PNW Herbaria
- WildflowerSearch
- iNaturalist (observations)
- USDA Plants Database
- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
