Touch-Me-Not
Discovered on wildflower expedition: Touch-Me-Not
Impatiens capensis
Other names: Orange Jewelweed, Common Jewelweed, Spotted Jewelweed or Orange Balsam, Spotted touch-me-not
The seed pods are pendant and have projectile seeds that explode out of the pods when they are lightly touched, if ripe, which is where the name touch-me-not comes from. The leaves appear to be silver or ‘jeweled’ when held underwater, which is possibly where the jewelweed name comes from.
Impatiens foliage is used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species (e.g. Dot Moth, Melanchra persicariae; Common Spotted Flat, Celaenorrhinus leucocera), as well as other insects, such as the Japanese Beetle (Popillia japonica), and bumblebees.
The North American jewelweeds are often used as a home remedy to treat bee stings, insect bites, and particularly Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) and Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica) rashes as a folk remedy, despite multiple controlled studies showing it to have no antipruritic effect.
Unspecified Impatiens is one of the traditional 83 Bach flower remedies, supposedly alleviating impatience, and is contained in the “Rescue Remedy” or “Five Flower Remedy” touted as an anxiolytic. There is no indication that Bach flower remedies are more effective than a placebo.
Language of the flowers: ardent love, impatience
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samlroth reblogged this from mundanefragments and added:
These grew wild at my house in Bucks County. If you peel...seeds (a difficult process,...
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mundanefragments posted this
