麦蓝菜 mai lan cai

Saponaria hispanica Miller, Gard. Dict., ed. 8, Saponaria no. 4 [in errat.]. 1768; S. segetalis Necker; S. vaccaria Linnaeus; Vaccaria pyramidata Medicus; V. segetalis (Necker) Garcke.

Plants 30--70 cm tall. Stems gray-green, apically branched, glabrous. Leaves 3--9 × 1.5--4 cm, apex acute. Bracts lanceolate, midvein green. Calyx green, 1--1.5 cm × 5--10 mm, 5-angled, submembranous between angles; calyx teeth triangular, margin scarious; globose in fruit. Petals 1.4--1.7 cm × 2--3 mm; claw greenish, narrowly cuneate; limb pink, emarginate, sometimes erose. Stamens included. Styles slightly exserted. Capsule 8--10 mm. Seeds red-brown to black, ca. 2 mm, granulate. Fl. Apr--Jul, fr. May--Aug. 2n = 30*.

Wheat fields. Anhui, Gansu, Guizhou, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Xinjiang, Xizang, Yunnan [native to Asia and Europe].

The seeds are used medicinally.