Naturalized European native - light green leaves show off pretty white to pink 3/4" petaled flowers. Leaves can be boiled and worked into a lather(like most of us) due to the presence of saponins. Saponins can be toxic if taken internally in large doses but an extract from the root is used as an emulsifier in the preparation of the confection halvah. Used as long ago as the 8th century BC by the Assyrians, it is still used by museums for cleaning delicate tapestries, pictures and furniture. Internally it is diuretic, laxative and expectorant and has been use to treat syphilis, gout, coughs, jaundice and rheumatic pain. Easy perennial which will spread by self seeding. Prefers damp ground.