Rock soapwort
Saponaria ocymoides
Family · Caryophyllaceae · Irritating
The cushion of bright pink flowers cascading over mountain rocks and banks in June, so dense it hides the leaves entirely.
Uplands · Walls and rocks · Scrubland
Also known astumbling ted, rock soapwort
How to tell it
A creeping plant, woody at the base, forming cushions that hang over rock. Opposite, small, oval, hairy leaves. Carmine-pink flowers one to one and a half centimetres, with five petals and a narrow, reddish, hairy calyx tube, in dense cymes.
What it is confused with
No dangerous lookalikes known in the Iberian Peninsula.
What it is for
No use
Like great soapwort it contains saponins and is not tasted. It is much grown in rock gardens, and wild mountain populations suffer from collecting for transplant.
Where it occurs
Each square is an area with recorded observations of this plant. The lighter background is the set of areas where any of the entries has been observed, and serves as a reference. Note what this is not: it is not where the plant lives, it is where people record it, so trails and towns always look fuller than the mountains. Data from GBIF.
Sources
Community
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