Soapwort - Saponaria officinalis
Favourite Photos
Species Description
Widespread and fairly frequent in the Southern half of the UK, being more scattered in the North. Habitat includes: hedge banks, quarries, roadside verges, railway banks, tips, wasteland, stream-sides, damp woods etc. Growing habit: Rhizomatous Perennial. Height: Up to 90 cm. Flowers: June to September.
Stace 4:
Saponaria officinalis L. - Soapwort.
Glabrous perennial with erect or ascending stems to 90cm; leaves ovate to elliptic, the largest >5cm; flowers in rather compact corymbose cymes, about 2.5cm across; calyx glabrous; 15-20mm; 2n=28. Archaeophyte-denizen; grown in gardens and a common escape and throwout on waste ground, roadsides and grassy places, often flore pleno, often well naturalised and perhaps native in South West England; throughout most of British Isles but rare in North Scotland; Europe.
Useful Links:
Ecological Flora of Britain and Ireland