• Scientific Name: Gypsophila vaccaria (L.) Sm.
• Ref: J.Sibthorp & J.E.Smith, Fl. Graec. Prodr. 1:279. 1809
• Synonyms:
  • Dianthus inclusus Walp.
  • Lychnis vaccaria (L.) Scop.
  • Saponaria amplissima Mill.
  • S. hispanica Mill.
  • S. inclusa K.Koch
  • S. liniflora Boiss. & Hausskn.
  • S. oxyodonta Boiss.
  • S. pentagona Steud.
  • S. perfoliata Roxb. ex Willd.
  • S. segetalis Neck.
  • S. vaccaria L.
  • Silene vaccaria E.H.L.Krause
  • Vaccaria arvensis Link
  • V. brachycalyx Pau
  • V. grandiflora Jaub. & Spach
  • V. hispanica (Mill.) Rauschert
  • V. inclusa Ledeb.
  • V. liniflora (Boiss. & Hausskn.) Bornm.
  • V. oxyodonta Boiss.
  • V. parviflora Moench
  • V. perfoliata (Roxb. ex Willd.) Sweet
  • V. pyramidalis Prahl
  • V. pyramidata Medik.
  • V. segetalis (Neck.) Garcke ex Asch.
  • V. segetalis subsp. pyramidata (Medik.) Dostál
  • V. sessilifolia Sweet
  • V. vulgaris Host
• English Common Name: cowherb, cowcockle, cow basil, cow soapwort, prairie carnation
• Chinese Common Name: 麦蓝菜 màiláncài, 麦蓝子 màilánzǐ, 王不留行 wáng bù∙liúxíng
• Japanese Common Name: ドウカンソウ [道灌草] dōkansō
• Family: Caryophyllaceae
• Genus: Gypsophila
• Distribution: 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].
• Note: One of the Chinese common name lit. is “Even the lord cannot stop it.”

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*. (Flora of China)