Weeds, a Link with the Past: Bouncing

Weeds: A Link With the Past

Bouncing Bet

Bouncing Bet, or Soapwort (Saponaria officinalis), is a mem- ber of the Pink family (Caryophyllaceae) which often bright- ens railroad embankments and empty lots with masses of pale pink, raspberry scented flowers. Dioscorides called it "Strouth- ion" and wrote of its use as a soap "which Fullers use for mak- ing cleane their wools." The fulling of newly woven wool cloth entailed washing the cloth with a soapy substance to clean it and to shrink the fibers so it would mat and become more dense and compact. The roots of Bouncing Bet were gathered when the plant was in flower, and soaked in water to extract the mucilaginous saponin. This mixture produced a soapy lather and gave the plant one of its names, ’Fuller’s Herb." It was also useful for washing silks, as it not only cleanses, but when dry leaves a luster on the cloth. In fact it is still used in parts of Europe for cleaning old tapestries. John Parkinson wrote in the 16th century "wild sopewort is used in many places, to scour country women’s treen [wooden~ and pewter vessels." The leaves were sometimes used as a poultice for small cuts and abrasions, and earlier Dio- scorides spoke of it as a remedy for those who were "liver-sick." The plant was naturalized in England in the 16th century, and its double-flowered variety was popular in early English gardens. Its weedy tendencies were recognized, however, as John Gerard wrote, "If they have but once taken good and sure rooting in any ground, it is impossible to destroy them." Gerard, who lived in the 16th century, was an herbalist and surgeon, and during a large part of his life he maintained a garden for the growing of medicinal plants, or simples. He produced an "Herball" which, although in some respects a translation and rearrangement of other earlier writers, did include some of his own observations on medicinal plants, and was the first popular book on gardening adapted for English gardens. Today Bouncing Bet, or Saponaria, has several horticultural varieties ranging in color from white to reddish purple, but its Latin name, from sapo, meaning soap, continues to remind us of its usefulness in the past. HELEN ROCA-GARCIA 136