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 

 out of soap on washday. 



The Bouncing Bet is a 

 native of Europe which was 

 brought into this country 

 as a garden flower, but 

 apparently, as perhaps its 

 name implies, was too vi-' 

 vacious to remain domesti- 

 cated and so has escaped 

 from cultivation and now 

 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 ; 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. 



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