Jewelweed
Given Name: Impatiens capensis
Nicknames: silverleaf, speckled touch-me-not, spotted touch-me-not, orange balsam, orange jewelweed, spotted jewelweed
Family: Balsaminaceae
Oh hi... you startled me! I didn't expect you to be here yet.
Weren't we supposed to meet later? It's already later? Hmmm... I must have lost track of time. Oh well, we're both here now. No harm done.
Now, let me think... you came for the liquid inside my succulent, translucent stem, right? To spread on your skin to soothe and heal your poison ivy rash? Although several studies have shown it doesn't work, there's a long history of people using me like that (and using me on your skin certainly isn't going to harm you). Often, I even grow close to poison ivy. Convenient, eh? So let me just break off a piece... no? That's not why your here?
No, no,don't tell me, I just need a minute.
Yup, I remember now! You have athletes foot and heard about the Vermont University study in the 1950s that showed my antifungal properties. It confirmed my traditional use by the North American First Nations people and early settlers for fungal issues like athletes foot and dandruff. Oh... I was sure that was you. On second thought, maybe that was my Tuesday appointment.
Well, you're definitely not the one who wants to learn about me... are you? Uh... you are. Well, of course I knew that.
So, have I mentioned that I'm from here? Well, not here, here. I obviously can't be from the internet. I'm from northern and eastern North America.
Oh, oh, oh- give me a second. I just need to seed myself over here and over here.
Kaboom!
Ahhhhhh! What was that? Did you hear that bang?
Oh silly me, that was just my seed pod exploding! Yes, I said exploding. When my seedpods are ripe, they burst when touched, sending my seeds flying through the air. It's a pretty fun party trick. And it works well for spreading my seeds all over the place too.
What was I saying? Oh yeah... I was talking about where I'm from. My cousins- I think you might know them... short, colourful, shade tolerant bedding plants that fill garden centres in the spring? Yes, garden impatiens (Impatiens walleriana)... that's them!- aren't from North America like me. Actually most of my family is from the subtropic and tropic regions of Asia and Africa. Maybe that's why I love the sun.
Oh! There's a hummingbird- youhoo Mrs. Hummingbird, here I am. You can come and drink my nectar! I know I'm one of your favourite nectar sources: my pairs of drooping, orange-speckled blossoms are the perfect shape for you!
Now, where was I? Yes, yes, I love the shade... or was it the sun? Well it doesn't really matter anyway because I grow in both. But I do need moist soil- I grow well along ponds, brooks, roadsides and in damp meadows. In fact, even though I'm not a proper perennial, when I like an area, I'll take over and come back year after year.
In my perfect habitat, I grow strong and tall (up to 5 feet!) and I can actually successfully out-compete the invasive garlic mustard!
I'm pretty proud of that accomplishment because I'm not always taken seriously. I'm not sure if you've noticed, but I can be kind of spacey... who am I kidding? I'm a real space cadet!
I swear I would forget my flowers if they weren't attached! Oh dear, where did I put my extra blooms? Yes, as well as my colourful flowers, I do have other, non-showy, green blooms that produce small seeds. Right! They're at the base of my leaves. Thank goodness they fertilize themselves because I always forget they're there!
After hearing all this good stuff about me, you might be tempted to eat me-
DON'T!
I'm not exactly poisonous but eating me would not be a pleasant experience: I'm cathartic, emetic and diuretic (which is the polite way to say I stimulate bowel movements, vomiting and urination). The only animals that have actually been observed eating me are goats. And it's never a good idea to take food advise from goats- they even eat poison ivy!
Which reminds me, I'd better check to see when I'm supposed to treat that person's poison ivy rash... or did I already do that yesterday?
Well, I've gotta get back to... I know I was doing something important...
Scattered Jewelweed
Resources:
Gail, P. A. (1993, June/July). Herb to Know: Jewelweed. Mother Earth Living. https://www.motherearthliving.com/plant-profile/jewelweed
Jewelweed; Impatiens capensis (n.d.). Ontario Weed Committee. http://www.weedinfo.ca/en/weed-index/view/id/IPACA
Karriker, K. (n.d.). Plant of the Week: Jewelweed (impatiens capensis). United States Department of Agriculture and United States Forest Service. https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/impatiens_capensis.shtml
Mahr, S. (n.d.). Jewelweed, Impatiens capensis. University of Wisconsin-Madison. https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/jewelweed-impatiens-capensis/
McGonigle, B (2017, May 30). Local Farm Has Goats to Cure a Baaaaad Poison Ivy Problem. Goats To Go. https://www.goatstogo.farm/in-the-news/local-farm-has-goats-to-cure-baaaad-poison-ivy/
that was soooo funny