Saponaria officinalis

Primary tabs

Saponaria officinalis

Description

Perennial herb with creeping rhizome. Leaves oblong-elliptic or narrowly elliptic, acute or acuminate, up to 15 by 5 cm, lower ones petiolate, upper ones sessile, distinctly 3-nerved, subglabrous. Inflorescence terminal, short-peduncled, dense corymbs. Flowers fragrant. Petals white to pink, claw narrow, mostly longer than calyx, lamina obovate with two, small coronal scales. Capsule oblong-ovoid, as long as calyx or slightly shorter. Seeds almost black, reniform to spherical.

Distribution

Asia-Tropical: Jawa (Jawa cultivated), From central and southern Europe through Russia to Caucasus present, New World present
From central and southern Europe through Russia to Caucasus Widely cultivated as an ornamental, also in the New World. In Java locally cultivated as an ornamental, mostly the form with double flowers. There is no material in L.

Citation

Tang Changlin 1996 – In: Fl. Reip. Pop. Sin.: 429
Lu Dequan, M. Lidén & B. Oxelman 2001 – In: Fl. China: 108
Backer & Bakh. f. 1963 – In: Fl. Java: 213
Backer 1911: Schoolfl. Java: 81