Identification
This native annual grows up to 6 feet tall. The succulent stems and branches are watery and translucent. Thin, alternate oval-shaped leaves have widely spaced shallow teeth along their margins (A). Dangling, orange tube-shaped flowers with variable numbers of red-brown dots end in long nectar containing spurs which curl back underneath the tube (B,D). The fruit is a swollen capsule which explodes at maturity scattering the seeds, a feature responsible for the alternate common name, ‘touch-me-not’.
Pale Jewelweed (Impatiens pallida) has similar foliage, but the slightly larger flowers are yellow and the spur usually shorter.
Grows in moist ditches and seeps flowering from June through September. At Fontenelle Forest common on the floodplain, mainly in wet areas along the base of the bluffs. It has not been found at Neale Woods.
Hummingbirds love this plant, but bees and butterflies also come to visit and pollinate. Birders wanting to study Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds may often observe them around these flowering plants, particularly during fall migration.
Native Americans used liquid from Jewelweed’s succulent stems to treat skin rashes. It is often used today to relieve the sting after exposure to nettles.
Other common names include Touch-Me-Not, Impatience, and Wild Balsam.
The content of NatureSearch is provided by dedicated volunteer Naturalists of Fontenelle Forest who strive to provide the most accurate information available. Contributors of the images retain their copyrights. The point of contact for this page is: Roland Barth.