Plantae > Tracheophyta > Magnoliopsida > Ericales > Balsaminaceae > Impatiens > Impatiens bicolor

Impatiens bicolor (ornamental jewelweed; Himalayan Balsam)

Synonyms:

Infraspecies

Impatiens bicolor var. bicolor
Impatiens bicolor var. devendrae

Invasive Species

View ISSG Record: Impatiens bicolor

Attributes

Allergen Potential [1]  Low
Edible [2]  May be edible. See the Plants For A Future link below for details.
Flower Type [2]  Hermaphrodite
Hazards [2]  Regular ingestion of large quantities of these plants can be dangerous due to their high mineral content; This report, which seems nonsensical, might refer to calcium oxalate. This mineral is found in I. capensis and so is probably also in other members of the genus. It can be harmful raw but is destroyed by thoroughly cooking or drying the plant; People with a tendency to rheumatism, arthritis, gout, kidney stones and hyperacidity should take especial caution if including this plant in their diet;
Lifespan [2]  Annual
Pollinators [2]  Bees
Structure [4]  Herb
Usage [2]  An oil from the seed is used for lighting;
Height [2]  4.92 feet (1.5 m)
Light Preference [3]  Mixed Sun/Shade
Soil Acidity [3]  Neutral
Soil Fertility [3]  Rich
Soil Moisture [3]  Damp
View Plants For A Future Record : Impatiens bicolor

Protected Areas

Ecosystems

Predators

Deilephila elpenor (Elephant Hawk-Moth)[5]
Impatientinum balsamines[5]
Liriomyza melampyga <Unverified Name>[5]

External References

USDA Plant Profile

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
♦ 1Derived from Allergy-Free Gardening OPALS™, Thomas Leo Ogren (2000)
♦ 2Plants For A Future licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
♦ 3ECOFACT 2a Technical Annex - Ellenberg’s indicator values for British Plants, M O Hill, J O Mountford, D B Roy & R G H Bunce (1999)
♦ 4Kattge, J. et al. (2011b) TRY - a global database of plant traits Global Change Biology 17:2905-2935
♦ 5Biological Records Centre Database of Insects and their Food Plants
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0