Plantae > Tracheophyta > Magnoliopsida > Caryophyllales > Caryophyllaceae > Saponaria > Saponaria ocymoides

Saponaria ocymoides (rock soapwort)

Synonyms:

Wikipedia Abstract

Saponaria ocymoides (rock soapwort or tumbling Ted) is a species of semi-evergreen perennial flowering plant belonging to the family Caryophyllaceae, native to south western and southern central Europe.
View Wikipedia Record: Saponaria ocymoides

Infraspecies

Saponaria ocymoides ocymoides

Attributes

Allergen Potential [1]  Medium-Low
Bee Flower Color [2]  Blue
Flower Color [2]  Pink
Flower Type [3]  Hermaphrodite
Hazards [3]  The plant contains saponins; Although toxic, these substances are very poorly absorbed by the body and so tend to pass through without causing harm. They are also broken down by thorough cooking. Saponins are found in many plants, including several that are often used for food, such as certain beans. It is advisable not to eat large quantities of food that contain saponins. Saponins are much more toxic to some creatures, such as fish, and hunting tribes have traditionally put large quantities of them in streams, lakes etc in order to stupefy or kill the fish;
Lifespan [3]  Perennial
Pollinators [3]  Insects, Lepidoptera
Structure [5]  Herb
Usage [3]  All parts of the plant are rich in saponins and can be used as a soap substitute; The saponins are extracted by simmering the plant in water. Plants can be dried for later use; A gentle and effective cleaner; Plants make a good carpeting ground cover when spaced about 60cm apart each way;
Height [3]  3.937 inches (0.1 m)
Width [3]  20 inches (0.5 m)
Light Preference [4]  Mostly Sunny
Soil Acidity [4]  Strong Base
Soil Fertility [4]  Infertile
Soil Moisture [4]  Mostly Dry
View Plants For A Future Record : Saponaria ocymoides

Protected Areas

Name IUCN Category Area acres Location Species Website Climate Land Use
Lizard Point 34565 England, United Kingdom    

Predators

Caryocolum fischerella[6]
Coleophora saponariella[6]

External References

USDA Plant Profile

NatureServe Explorer

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
♦ 1Derived from Allergy-Free Gardening OPALS™, Thomas Leo Ogren (2000)
♦ 2Arnold SEJ, Faruq S, Savolainen V, McOwan PW, Chittka L, 2010 FReD: The Floral Reflectance Database — A Web Portal for Analyses of Flower Colour. PLoS ONE 5(12): e14287.
♦ 3Plants For A Future licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
♦ 4Ellenberg, H., Weber, H.E., Dull, R., Wirth, V., Werner, W., Paulissen, D. (1991) Zeigerwerte von Pflanzen in Mitteleuropa. Scripta Geobotanica 18, 1–248
♦ 5Kattge, J. et al. (2011b) TRY - a global database of plant traits Global Change Biology 17:2905-2935
♦ 6HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants Gaden S. Robinson, Phillip R. Ackery, Ian J. Kitching, George W. Beccaloni AND Luis M. Hernández
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0