PINK FAMILY CARYOPHYLLACEAE 
BOUNCING BET. SOAPWORT 
Saponaria officinalis L. 
The Soapwort is so named because its juice when 
placed in water forms a lather and has cleansing proper- 
ties. The juice is easily extracted by pounding the root 
on a board, and has been 
so derived and used by 
( generations of farmers’ 
wives who happened to run 
(p > out of soap on washday. 
; 3o2 The Bouncing Bet is a 
ARS native of Europe which was 
SK S brought into this country 
as a garden flower, but 
apparently, as perhaps its 
name implies, was too vi- 
(2; vacious to remain domesti- 
2 PAZ ee and so has escaped 
<= S rom cultivation and now 
Q\ ~ is common throughout the 
country along roadsides and 
in waste places. Other names are Sweet 
Betty, Lady by the Gate, and for some 
occult reason, Old-maid’s Pink. 
The plant has a perennial root so 
that when once started it may form 
a patch and remain for years. It spreads 
vegetatively by stolons. The smooth stem is 1-2 feet high, green, 
sometimes stained with red, and not much branched. The 
opposite leaves are thickish and smooth. 
The fragrant, quite showy and often double flowers bloom 
from July to September. Those that are fully exposed to light 
are pink but those in the shade may be nearly white. The long 
tubular calyx is 5-toothed at the summit and the 5 petals are 
generally notched. The crown consists of 2 threadlike out- 
~ growths from each petal. There are 10 stamens, of which the 
5 longer mature first. The pistil has a long ovary and 2 styles, 
and the fruit is a many-seeded pod which opens by 4 teeth at 
the end. 
88 
