Intriguing World of Weeds 1 ,< Bouncingbet - The Soap Weed

LARRY W. MITICH2

INTRODUCTION used a decoction of Saponaria to clean wool before weaving it into cloth] (2). Known for thousands of years to The name "bouncing bet" arose in England in Eliza­ produce a cleansing soaplike lather bethan times, when the plant had become widely used when crushed in water, bouncing-· an~ even mo~e widely naturalized (6). Working-class bet (Saponaria officinalis L. #3 B_ntons used It to scrub their crude wood and pewter SAWOF) is as pretty as its name. dishes and for their laundry. "The inflated calyx and Though it has followed man around scalloped petals of the flower suggested the rear view the world, it has always been an in­ of a !~undress, her numerous petticoats pinned up, and vited guest-until the 1900s, when the wide ruff at her neck bobbing about as she scrubbed our changing viewpoint redefined the clothes ... " (6). It seems worth speculating that the this millennial source of soap, fra- hypothetical washerwoman was named "Bet" in honor grance, and beauty as a weed. of Queen Elizabeth; however, it might be ungracious to suggest any connection among the Queen, the flower, NAMES AND NOMENCLATURE and the jiggling rump of a laundress. Common names include soapwort, latherwort (6), Bouncingbet's scientific name has remained un­ soaproot (13), and scourwort (11) in reference to the changed since Linnaeus presented it in Species Plan­ plant's common use as a soap. It became fuller's herb tarum in 1753. The genus name combines sapo or (6) in reference to its use in washing woven wool cloth· saponis, which is Latin for "soap" (14) (and very likely this not only cleaned the cloth but caused it to shrink the ancestor of our English word), with -aria, a Latin ~ pulling the strands tight or "full." Its appellation of suffix meaning "like" or "similar to" (8). Officina, sheepweed (1) also may stem from this use. As a showy initially Latin for "office," became opificina, meaning member of the Caryophyllaceae, or pink family, it has "store-room" and later "pharmacy/' where medical been called hedge pink or old maid's pink (1). Reputed plants were stored and dispensed; -alis is a Latin suffix medicinal qualities, particularly for skin ailments meaning "pertaining to" (14). The species name is earned it the name bruisewort (1). And for its famed commonly associated with plants having medicinal uses (14). - spicy fragrance, which perfumed the streets of old Around the first century A.D., Mediterranean people England, it was dubbed London pride (6), wild sweet William, or sweet Betty (11 ). called S. officinalis struthium or strouthion ["little bird" (8)] or struthiocamelus [possibly "little bird on the Incidentally. "wort" is the Anglicized version of an old North European word for any plant or herb; it has ground" (8)]; others called it cerdon or chamaerrhytos. roots in the Anglo-Saxon the Old Norse and One Greek popular name, catharsis, meant (and still wyrt, urt, the Old High German wurz (3). It may even be related means) "a cleanser or purifier" (8), perhaps referring to to ancient Greek and Roman words for "root" (12). The both the soapy uses of the plant and to its purgative word is obsolete by itself (12), but it survives as a effects when used medicinally. The Magi called it suffix in many plant common names. The prefix usually chalyriton, Egyptians called it oeno, and Africans syris (2). Romans called it radix ("root") or herba lanaria describe_s something a plant resembles (spiderwort), cures (liverwort), or provides (soapwort) (3). ["wool herb" (8) - for even 2000 years ago, clothiers

MEDICINAL USES 1No. 28 of the series "Intriguing World of Weeds." Contributions are wel· Though the cleansing applications of bouncingbet come and will be ~knowledged. Send contributions to Larry W. Mitich. ~Ext. Weed Sci., Dept. Bot., Univ. Calif., Davis, CA 95616. have given it many names and helped it to colonize Let~rs ~ollowing this s~bol are a WSSA-approved computer code from continent after continent, the weed reputedly has other Composite ~st of Weeds, Revised 1989. Available from WSSA, 309 W. Clark St, Champaign, ll. 61820. benefits.

221 Weed Technology. 1990. Volwne 4:221-223 MITICH: INTRIGUING WORLD OF WEEDS

Tp.e'"Greek herbalist Dioscorides ,described bouncing­ Bet's good side has not been entirely bet in the first century, assigning it a myriad of medici­ forgotten. "In homes and museums, ex­ nal properties (2). Herbalists from the first through the tracts are still employed for cleaning 19th centuries ascribed to :bouncingbet, along with ap­ wall hangings and ,tapestries ... and for parently innumerable other weeds, the power to cure producing a 'head' on beers" (10). This liver ailments (10), coughs, and kidney stones (2). is considered one of the most beautiful In medieval times, herbalists prescribed bouncingbet weeds. In the past century bouncingbet for skin diseases, including leprosy, and general itching. often appeared in English ,gardens, and at It was used as a cure for syphilis and gonorrhea (10). least one variety is still available (6). The cylindrical taproots were dug up, cleaned, and "Were it not that its strong perennial dried; and, as late as the 1940s, these were sold for 5 to root-stocks are insatiable in their quest 10 cents a pound for medicine (5). Liquid extracts of for space the species might 'have gained the roots and leaves are available for a purgative and popularity as a garden plant" (4). for treatment of scrofula and other skin diseases (10). BOTANY BET GOES WEST Bouncingbet is a deep-rooted perennial which grows The story of bouncingbet's colonization of new 30 to 60 cm (1 to 2 feet) tall. Its leaves are paired, lance-shaped, and without petioles. It reproduces by countries closely parallels its use as a detergent and seeds or rootstocks. It produces an abundant froth of medicine. Though used in Europe probably before re­ complex, fragrant, pale rose-colored flowers in late corded history, it did not arrive in England until the summer or early fall. The flowers are tube shaped at the Middle Ages, when monks brought it over from France base, with 5 petals; double flowers are fairly common, and Germany (6). It caught on with the common people and the plant has ,been bred occasionally for double at once. And when the Industrial Revolution enabled flowers for gardens. large-scale commercial manufacture of cloth, textile Bouncingbet is a member of the pink family (Cary­ magnates cultivated fields of the "weed" as an inexpen­ ophyllaceae), along with chickweed and cockles. sive detergent, thus granting it a permanent home (6). Haughton (6) wrote that the word "pink" originally Like many of our weeds, bouncingbet was brought referred to the flowers of this family - including over from Europe as part of the pioneers' garden sup­ Bet's - because they had scalloped or 'pinked' petals. plies, probably arriving even with the first settlers (6). The characteristic pale rose of the flowers came to be Once again, its cultivation boomed in the early days of called pink as well. the American textiles industry (6), and it thrived in the Bouncingbet is considered "somewhat poisonous" new country even when its usefulness was past. (11). The poisonous ingredient is the saponin gluco­ As land was cleared for homes and farms, and roads, side - the same chemical which forms a soapy emulsion canals, and railroads pushed into the interior, bouncing­ when the plant is crushed in water and which in moder­ bet colonized new ground (often with the aid of thrifty ation is the purgative beloved of herbalists. Sheep will settlers fond of clean laundry) (6). die within 4 h after eating plants equal to 3% of their body weight; this is unlikely, however, as the plant is distasteful to animals (9). BOUNCINGBET TODAY

Now bouncingbet can be found in waste areas LITERATURE CITED throughout North America Only Australia, Canada, and 1. Britton, N, L., and A. Brown. 1898. An lllustrated Rora of the Northern Spain report it as a problem weed; though it is present United States, Canada and the British Possessions. Charles Scribner's in other countries, it apparently is controlled (7). In Sons, New York. 2. Dioscorides. 1933. The Greek Herbal of Dioscorides. R. T. Gunther, ed. 1945, Fogg (4) wrote, "Bouncing Bet is so thoroughly Hafner Publ. Co., Inc., New York. at home along railroad embankments and roadsides that 3. Durant, M. 1976. Who Named the Daisy? Who Named the Rose? Dodd, Mead & Company, New York. one is impelled to. wonder where the plant grew before 4. Fogg, J. M., Jr, 1945. Weeds of Lawn and Garden. Univ. Penn. Press, present-day methods of transportation were developed." Philadelphia.

222 Volwne 4, Issue 1 (January-March), 1990 WEED TECHNOLOGY

5. GCQ.rgi;, A E. 1942. A Manual of Weeds. The MacMillan Company, Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. Mew York. 10. LeStrange, R. 1977. A History of Herbal Plants. Angus & Robertson, 6. Haughton, C. S. 1978. Green Immigrants. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, London. Inc., New York. 11. Muenscher, W. C. 1935. Weeds. Macmillan Publ. Co. Inc., New York. 7. Holm, L. G., J. V. Pancho, J, P. Herberger, and D. L. Plucknett. 1979. A 12. Simpson, J. A., and E.S.C. Weiner. 1989. The Oxford English Dictionary, Geographical Atlas of World Weeds. John Wiley & Sons, New York. 2nd ed. Clarendon Press, Oxford. 8. Jaeger, E. C. 1944. A Source-book of Biological Names and Tenns (2nd 13. Uphof, 1.C.T. 1968. Dictionary of Economic Plants (2nd Ed.). Stechen­ Ed.). Charles E. Thomas, Springfield, IL. Hafner Service Agency, Inc., New York. 9. Kingsbury, J. M.1964. Poisonous Plants of the United States and Canada. 14. Zimdahl, R. L. 1989. Weeds and Words. Iowa State Univ. Press, Ames.

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