Description
An erect, hairless plant found all over Europe. It has many names, Cow Herb, Cow Soapworts and others. Once popular as a garden plant, quite easy to grow. Tolerant to different types of soil, moist but well-drained.
Cultivated, waste and fallow land.
Flowers
The flowers are long stalked in a loose, branched inflorescence, with or without notched petals. The calyx has 5 broad wings.
Leaves
Elliptic oval leaf, Lanceolate leaf is lance-shaped: long and widest in the middle. Grey-green, waxy, oval to long, wider in the middle, pointed, encircling the stem. Margins not serrated.
Fruits Seeds
Capsule.
Medical
Used in Chinese medicine. It is reputed to be a diuretic, to encourage milk secretion, to activate blood circulation and relieve swellings.