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.
Where it grows
Uplands · Walls and rocks · Scrubland
Also known astumbling ted, rock soapwort
In flower
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.