''Saponaria ocymoides'', the rock soapwort or tumbling Ted, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of semi-

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

belonging to the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Caryophyllaceae Caryophyllaceae, commonly called the pink family or carnation family, is a family (biology), family of flowering plants. It is included in the dicotyledon order Caryophyllales in the APG III system, alongside 33 other families, including Amaranth ...

native Native may refer to: People * '' Jus sanguinis'', nationality by blood * '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Nat ...

to south western and southern central Europe.

Etymology

The Latin

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

''ocymoides'' means “resembling basil” (''

Ocimum ''Ocimum'' is a genus of aromatic annual and perennial herbs and shrubs in the family Lamiaceae, native to the tropical and warm temperate regions of all 6 inhabited continents, with the greatest number of species in Africa. Its best known spe ...

''). However the resemblance is superficial, as the two plants are not closely related. In fact ''Saponaria ocymoides'' belongs to the same family as pinks and carnations.

Description

Reaching a height of , the stem is prostrate to ascending, woody, reddish, quite hairy and very branched. The leaves are ovate to lanceolate, sessile and hairy, 1–3 cm long. The five-petalled flowers are arranged in groups at the ends of branches. They have red or pink (rarely white)

petal Petals are modified leaves that form an inner whorl surrounding the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly coloured or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''corol ...

s and blue

anther The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

s. The sepals are fused in a tube about an 8 to 10 millimeters long. The flowering period extends from May to August in the Northern Hemisphere. The fruit is an ovoid capsule, up to 9 mm long.

Distribution

This species ranges from the mountains of Spain to Corsica, Sardinia and Slovenia, from the Apennines to the Alps. It grows in rocky and stony places, dry slopes and forests (especially pine forests). It prefers calcareous (

alkaline In chemistry, an alkali (; from the Arabic word , ) is a basic salt of an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal. An alkali can also be defined as a base that dissolves in water. A solution of a soluble base has a pH greater than 7.0. The ...

) soils, at an elevation of up to , rarely up to .

Subspecies

Two subspecies are accepted. *''Saponaria ocymoides'' subsp. ''alsinoides'' (synonym ''Saponaria alsinoides'' ) – Sardinia *''Saponaria ocymoides'' subsp. ''ocymoides'' (synonyms ''Bootia ocymoides'' , ''Lychnis ocymoides'' , ''Saponaria repens'' , ''Saponaria viscosa'' , ''Silene alsinoides'' , and ''Silene ocymoides'' ) – Austria, Corsica, France, Germany, Italy, Sardinia, Spain, Switzerland, and former Yugoslavia

Cultivation

''Saponaria ocymoides'' is cultivated as an ornamental plant for

rock garden A rock garden, also known as a rockery and formerly as a rockwork, is a garden, or more often a part of a garden, with a landscaping framework of rocks, stones, and gravel, with planting appropriate to this setting. Usually these are small ...

s and dry stone walls, in well-drained alkaline or neutral soil in full sun. Like most alpine plants it dislikes winter wetness around its roots. It has gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. It includes the full range of cultivated p ...

Gallery

File:Saponaria ocymoides Atlas Alpenflora.jpg, Illustration from Atlas der Alpenflora File:Saponaria ocymoides subsp alsinoides.jpg, Plant in Corsica File:Caryophillaceae - Saponaria ocymoides-1.JPG, File:Caryophillaceae - Saponaria ocymoides-3.JPG,

References

External links

Biolib

''Saponaria ocymoides''

Gardening
{{Taxonbar, from=Q159596 Caryophyllaceae Flora of Austria Flora of Corsica Flora of France Flora of Germany Flora of Italy Flora of Sardinia Flora of Spain Flora of Switzerland Flora of Yugoslavia Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus