DECANDRIA. DIGYNIA. Saponaria. 537 
suggestion, as followed by Dr. Greville, that “ S. perennis merely owed 
its character to flowering later in the season, or having, under favourable 
circumstances, survived the winter/’ In confirmation of this opinion Dr. 
Greville adds —“ I met with var. a.” (annuus),“ in flower on a wall top, 
near Kincardine, • in May, it having survived the winter and acquired 
much of the habit of /3. This spring (March and April, 1823), I have 
seen it plentifully in flower on wall tops between Corstorphine and Kirk¬ 
liston.” 
Knawel. Irish : Dearna Muire. Welsh: Dinodd blynyddawl. S. annuus 
is common in sandy ground and corn-fields: Var. perennis (more properly 
biennial) has been observed abundantly in the neighbourhood of Elvedon, 
Suffolk. Ray. Snettisham, Norfolk. Mr. Crowe. (Fields above Gates¬ 
head, Durham. Mr. Thornhil, in Bot. Guide. Sandy places by the 
road side between Corwen and Bala. Bingley. Old stone-pits at Crea- 
ton, Northamptonshire. Morton. Culford, West Stow, and Ickingham 
Heaths, Suffolk. Sir T. G. Cullum. E.) B.—P. May—Aug.* 
SAPONA'RXA.f Calyx one leaf, tubular, naked at the base : 
Petals five, with claws : Caps, oblong, of one cell. 
S. officina'lis. Calyx cylindrical: leaves egg-spear-shaped. 
Curt. —( E. Bot. 1060. E.)— FI. Dan. 543— Woodv. 251— Dod. 179— Lob. 
Obs. 170. 2—Ger. Em. 444— Park. 641. 1— H. Ox. v. 22. 52— Blackw. 
113. 
( Stems numerous, about eighteen inches high. Leaves sessile, opposite, 
three-fibred, smooth. Flowers in a terminal panicle, large, flesh-coloured 
or white, sometimes double ; limb of the petal obcordate. E.) 
Soapwort. Bruisewort. (Welsh: Sebonllys meddygawl. E.) Meadows 
and hedge-banks. On Blackheath. Near Morden College, Kent. In 
Norfolk, not unfrequent. Mr. Woodward. Hedges near Hanley, Worcester¬ 
shire. Mr. Ballard. On the brink of the river below Preston, Lancashire. 
Mr. Saville. Somerton and Beverstone, Gloucestershire. Mr. Baker. Use- 
mire and Howtown, Ullswater; and Akebeck-bridge, by Pooley. Hut¬ 
chinson. On a hedge in Aspatria village, Cumberland, no garden near. Rev. 
J. Dodd. Hedge bank opposite Mr. Gould’s at Dunnington, Warwick¬ 
shire ; banks of the Severn above and below Bridgnorth. Purton. St. 
Levan, Tresco Island, Scilly. Dr. Forbes. Between the Halfway House 
and Gad’s Hill, in the way to Rochester. E. Bot. Banks of Tyne, near 
Friar’s Goose. Winch Guide. In a hedge near the windmill in Anglesey. 
Welsh Bot. Near Roslin chapel. Grev. Scot. On the Gloucestershire 
side of the river Avon, by the passage at Conham, near Bristol. In a 
lane leading out of the Newton road from Teignmouth towards Sandy- 
* The Swedes and Germans receive the vapour arising from a decoction of these plants into 
their mouths to cure the tooth-ache. Goats and sheep eat it; cows refuse it. The Polish 
scarlet grain or cochineal, (Coccus Polonicus,) is found upon the roots, (especially of the 
latter var.), in the summer months. (It was formerly collected in large quantities for 
dyeing red in the Ukraine, Lithuania, &c. and is still employed by the Turks and Armenians 
for dyeing wool, silk, and hair, as also for staining the nails of women’s fingers. In Europe 
its use is generally superseded by the true cochineal, (Coccus Cacti,) which has been culti¬ 
vated in the Intendency of Oaxaca, Mexico, several centuries, and of which, according to 
Dr. Bancroft, 375,000/. worth are annually consumed in Britain. E.) 
f (From iapo , soap; the leaves being substituted for that substance in washing. E.) 
