Soapwort
Parts Usually Used
The whole plant
Description of Plant(s) and Culture
Soapwort is a wide-spread perennial plant; the finger-thick creeping rootstock produces a reddish, branching stem, which grows from 1-3 feet high and bears opposite, ovate, pointed leaves whose bases clasp the stem. Flat-topped, corymbed clusters of pink, sometimes white or purple, flowers bloom from June to August. Soapwort tolerates poor soil as long as it is well-drained, and full sun or light shade.
Where Found
Grows in waste places and along roadsides and railroad embankments in eastern North America, Asia, and Europe.
Medicinal Properties
Cholagogue, diuretic, expectorant, purgative
Legends, Myths and Stories
A rugged perennial very common along roadsides and near old homesites. It was brought to America by early colonists. The fresh leaves, stems and flowers produce a considerable amount off saponin and cleans as well as leaves a beautiful luster to fabrics. According to an English source, soapwort has been used to clean “filthy”, colorless, decrepit brocade curtains more than 200 years old.
The antique curtains were not only cleaned but the original color and luster restored. Bunches of fresh soapwort were put in a muslin bag and boiled in a cauldron until it produced a foaming brown liquid similar to beer. When luke-warm the bag of herbs was removed and liquid squeezed out. The curtains were gently dunked in the saponin liquid. They probably were allowed to steep to loosen embedded dirt.
The curtains were then removed and dunked again in several changes of rain water. Never use chemically treated water for silks or fragile materials. The author of this information believed soapwort was safe for washing antique tapestries and silks.
Uses
Historically, herbalists administered a decoction of soapwort as an expectorant for respiratory congestion and employed it internally for gout, gallbladder complaints, jaundice, and asthma. The plant was also credited with mild purgative properties and was traditionally utilized to increase urinary output and aid in passing kidney stones. Externally, practitioners applied washes, fomentations, or poultices of the herb to the skin for conditions such as dermatitis, general itching, furuncles, acne, eczema, psoriasis, poison-ivy rashes, cuts, and bruises.
Warning
Soapwort is now believed to be toxic and is only used externally.
Bibliography
American Folk Medicine , by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, 1973 Culpeper’s Complete Herbal & English Physician: Updated With 117 Modern Herbs , by Nicholas Culpeper, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, 1990, (reprint of 1814) Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants , by Steven Foster and James A. , Houghton Mifflin Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10000 The Herb Book , by John Lust, Bantam Books, 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY.
copyright 1974. , Pantheon Books, Knopf Publishing Group, New York, 1994, first edition Indian Herbalogy of North America , by Alma R. , 15 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023 The Rodale Herb Book: How to Use, Grow, and Buy Nature’s Miracle Plants (An Organic gardening and farming book) , edited by William H. Hylton, Rodale Press, Inc. , 1974