Saponaria officinalis

FamilyGenus: Saponarianative in Germany

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Species

interact

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Interactions

documented

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Host relationships

Species

About this species

Saponaria officinalis is a herbaceous perennial archaeophyte in Great Britain, producing broad leaves and clusters of flowers from June to September. It favours sunny, moderately moist, calcareous soils with low disturbance, such as river banks and roadsides. The plant reaches around 0.5 m in height.

Ecological network

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PollinationLarval hostFlower visit

Ecological significance

Saponaria officinalis occupies sunny, calcareous, moderately moist habitats with low levels of disturbance, such as river banks and roadsides. As a long-established archaeophyte, it forms part of the open-ground flora.

Annual cycle

Herbaceous perennial. Leaves emerge in spring; flowering from June to September; the plant dies back in autumn.

Standort & Merkmale

Light

Sonne

Moisture

Frisch (Mäßig feucht)

Soil

Mittelzehrer (Normaler Boden)

Flowering period

Jun – Sep

Soil reaction

Basisch / Kalkhold

Bioregion

Continental

Growth form

Krautige Pflanze

Woodiness

Nicht verholzt

Leaf type

Breitblättrig

Plant height

0.509 m

Morphological traits: TRY ID3 (CC BY 3.0) & TRY ID81 (CC BY)

Pflege & Anbau

Grows best in full sun and moist but well-drained, calcareous soil. Tolerates ordinary garden soil. Flowers from early summer to early autumn.

Scientific profile

Saponaria officinalis is an archaeophyte in Great Britain, occurring in open, sunny habitats on calcareous, moderately moist soils where disturbance is low. This herbaceous perennial reaches about 0.5 m in height and has broad, non-woody leaves. Flowering takes place from June to September. It can be found on river banks, roadsides and similar open situations.

Pollinators & visitors

31 Arten interagieren mit dieser Pflanze

Pieris brassicae Pieris rapae Aglais urticae Lycaena phlaeas Bombus terrestris Xylocopa violacea Autographa gamma macroglossum stellatarumApis melliferaSphinx ligustriHyles euphorbiaeGonepteryx rhamni Polyommatus icarusSphinx pinastriXylocopa valgaCelastrina argiolus Bombus soroeensisAgrius convolvuliSphecodes albilabrisBombus terrestris/lucorumLasioglossum sp3Amata phegea Bombus pascuorum Sphaerophoria scripta Eristalis arbustorum Lasioglossum calceatum Episyrphus balteatus Lasioglossum morio Eristalis tenaxParagus haemorrhousEristalis similis

Host relationships

3 species use this plant as a host

Hadena bicrurisHadena caesia (Denis & Schiffermüller), 1775Sideridis reticulata

Other flower visitors

3 other species visit the flowers

Subcoccinella vigintiquatuorpunctataTachina magnicornisPhania funesta

Sources & data origin

•Interaktionsdaten via GloBI (CC-BY 4.0)

•Cook et al. (2025) UK Butterfly & Moth Traits (DOI: 10.5285/dbc7cc17-cbbd-49dd-bab4-8e8855768d66)

•pollinator_interactions

•Baden-Böhm F, App M, Thiele J (2022) — The FloRes Database: A floral resources trait database for pollinator habitat-assessment generated by a multistep workflow. Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institut, Dryad, DOI: 10.5061/dryad.djh9w0w29 (CC0)

•FloraWeb / BfN

•EIVE 1.0 — Dengler et al. (2023), DOI: 10.3897/VCS.98324 (CC BY 4.0)

•GBIF Backbone Taxonomy — GBIF Secretariat (2024), DOI: 10.15468/39omei (CC BY 4.0)

•TRY Categorical Traits (ID3) — Kattge et al. (2012), DOI: 10.17871/TRY.3 (CC BY 3.0)

•TRY Global Spectrum (ID81) — Díaz et al. (2016/2021), DOI: 10.17871/TRY.81 (CC BY)

•Checklist Alien Plants Belgium — Verloove F (2023), Botanic Garden Meise (CC BY 4.0)

•Govaerts R et al. (2025) — World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP) v14. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. DOI: 10.34885/xs7h-ze42 (CC BY 4.0)

All data is licensed under CC BY 4.0, CC0, or compatible terms. Attribution according to license conditions. Full source overview →