Soapwort: a useful alien found in almost every state
July 22, 2013
At least when you see this plant by the side of the road, the answer to the question: “What’s that doing there?” is clear. This is soapwort, Saponaria officinalis, growing by the roadside here in Pennsylvania and since earliest times it’s been used to make soap.
Found wild in Southern Europe, and growing over much of Britain but perhaps native only in the south west (the botanists seem undecided), this pale form is the one seen in here in PA though in some areas a darker rose pink form is seen, and a pale semi-double form (‘Rosea Plena’) also sometimes establishes itself in the wild.
To be honest, the plant is a bit of a thug, even in poor soil it grows vigorously as long as it has plenty of sun, and it takes the salty run-off from roads in its stride. In fact it’s so adaptable that it’s naturalized in every American state except Alaska and Hawaii. Here in Pennsylvania, it often grows along roadsides with double-flowered daylilies – about which more next time.