Pygmy Pink (Saponaria pumila Janch.)

Also known as dwarf soapwort; also classified as Saponaria pumilio (L.) Fenzl ex A. Braun.

Most authorities refer to this species by the name Saponaria pumilio (L.) Fenzl ex A. Braun. However, POWO considers this name illegitimate, probably due to the existence of the name Saponaria pumilio Boiss., a different species not found in North America. Both names were published in 1843. We have deferred to POWO in this case but we note that this treatment is different from most North American authorities. Our examination of sources suggest that there may be some conflation of these two species in the literature; some sources at least for some time, have wrongly listed the two species as synonymous that POWO considers separate, and this information may have propagated and led to confusion.