|
Graver Home |
|
|
|
|
Close up of flower
Impatiens capensis
Common Name: Jewelweed
Family: Balsaminaceae
Leaves: The leaves are egg shaped and coarsely toothed.
Flowers: These beautiful and distinctive flowers are found on drooping stocks and are orange and spotted with red-brown. The shape consists of a sac with a spur recurved parallel to it. They appear in July - September.
Seeds: The green seed pods pop to the touch and release the seeds.
Stem: The stems are green, smooth and erect. They are a succulent and produce juice when broken.
Branching Pattern: Alternate
Height: 2-5 ft
Conditions/Habitat/Kind of Forest: They can be found in wet shady areas such as swamps and floodplains.
Known Wildlife Interactions: Hummingbirds drink nectar from the flowers.
Range: Found in eastern North America from Newfoundland to the Northwest Territory of Canada and then south to Florida. They are also naturalized in Ireland.
Conservation Status-US/ World Wide: Not threatened in U.S. or globally.
Uses (Human): The juice from the stems can be used to counteract the effects of poison ivy in some people.
References:
Aquatic and Wetland Vascular Plants of the Northern Great Plains. February 23, 2005. Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center. Accessed: January 20, 2006. <http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/othrdata/plntguid/species/polysagi.htm>
Connecticut Wildflowers. January 20, 2006. Connecticut Botanical Society. Accessed: January 20, 2006. <http://www.ct-botanical-society.org/galleries/polygonumsagi.html>
Plants for a Future. June 2004. Accessed: January 20, 2006. <http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Polygonum+sagittatum>
The Pennsylvania Flora Project. Botany Department, Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania. Accessed: January 20, 2006. <http://www.paflora.org>
Newcomb, Lawrence. Newcomb's Wildflower Guide. 1977. pg. 54
Redington, Charles B. Plants in Wetlands. Redington Field Guides.1994. pg. 210
Peterson, Roger T., MicKenny, Margaret. Wildflowers: Northeast/ North-Central Amercia. Peterson Field Guides.1996. pg.208
Chadde, Steve W. A Great Lake Wetland Flora. Pocketflora Press. 2002. pg. 143
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species <http://www.iucnredlist.org>