SOAPWORT OR BOUNCING BET, 



{Saponaria officinalis.) 



The plant commonly called Soapwort 

 or Bouncing Bet also bears other popu- 

 lar names, many of which are purely lo- 

 cal. Some of these are Hedge Pink, 

 Bruisewort, Sheepweed, Old Maid's 

 Pink and Fuller's Herb. It bears the 

 name Soapwort because of a substance 

 called saponin which is a constituent of 

 its roots and causes a foaming that ap- 

 pears like soap suds when the powdered 

 root is shaken with water. 



Soapwort belongs to a large group 

 of plants called the Caryophyllaceas, or 

 pink family. In this family there are 

 about fifteen hundred species. These 

 are widely distributed, but are most 

 abundant in the Northern Hemisphere, 

 extending to the Arctic regions and to 

 the tops of very high mountains. The 

 popular and beautiful carnations and 

 some of the most common plants that 

 grow abundantly in waste places also 

 belong to the pink family. The Soap- 

 wort comes to us from Europe, where in 

 some localities it is a common wild 

 flower. In this country when it was first 

 introduced it was simply a pretty culti- 

 vated garden plant. However, it lives 

 from year to year and spreads by means 

 of underground stems. It was not very 



long before it had escaped from yards to 

 roadsides, where frequently large patches 

 may be seen. The flowers are large and 

 quite showy. The color of the petals is 

 usually pinkish white. Blossoming in 

 July, August and September, the Soap- 

 wort often beautifies waste places which 

 other plants seem to shun. It is perhaps 

 more generally loved than any other of 

 our old-fashioned garden flowers. It 

 grows luxuriantly without cultivation 

 and seems to quite hold its own even 

 among rank growths of weeds and grass. 

 It is hard to tell what is the significance 

 of the name Bouncing Bet, perhaps the 

 most popular of all the names by which 

 this plant is known. 



Alice Lounsberry says : 'Tt was al- 

 ways a mystery to Dickens that a door- 

 nail should have been considered so much 

 more dead than any other inanimate ob- 

 ject, and it seems also strange that this 

 plant should have suggested the idea of 

 bouncing more than other plants. Dear 

 Bettie does not bounce, nor could she if 

 she would. She sits most firmly on her 

 stem, and her characteristics seem to be 

 home-loving and simple. We are sure 

 to find her peeping through the garden 

 fence." 



TURTLE-HEAD OR SNAKE-HEAD. 



( Qhelone glabra . ) 



The Turtle-head or Snake-head is one 

 of three species that are natives of east- 

 ern North America. This plant is well 

 supplied with common names, as it is 

 also called Shell-flower, Cod-head, Bitter- 

 herb and Balmony. The generic name of 

 this flower of the swamps and moist 

 l)anks of streams is from the Greek word 

 which means tortoise, the name having 

 ])cen given to the plant l)ccausc of the 

 fancied resemblance bclwccn the flowers 



and the head of a turtle or snake. One 

 may be able, by stretching his imagina- 

 tion, to see this ifesemblance in the flowers 

 of our illustration. 



The custom of giving names to plants 

 that are suggestive of their real or fan- 

 cied resemblance to various objects of 

 nature, or are indicative of their bene- 

 ficial or injurious qualities, is as old as 

 liistory itself. In this way a large num- 

 1)er of i-tlanls have become associated 



