{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}} {{For|other plants called "touch-me-not"|Touch me not (disambiguation){{!}}Touch me not}} {{Speciesbox |name = Orange jewelweed |image = Potapsco_fg13.jpg |status=LC |status_system=IUCN3.1 |status_ref=<ref>{{cite iucn|author=Maiz-Tome, L.|year=2016|title=''Impatiens capensis''|article-number=e.T64314821A67729731|doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T64314821A67729731.en|access-date=10 September 2023}}</ref> |status2 = {{TNCStatus}} |status2_system = TNC |status2_ref=<ref>{{cite NatureServe |id=2.130664 |title=''Impatiens capensis'' |access-date=10 September 2023}}</ref> |taxon = Impatiens capensis |authority = [[Nicolaas Meerburgh|Meerb.]] |synonyms = ''Impatiens biflora'' <small>Walter</small><br /> ''Impatiens fulva'' <small>Nutt.</small> }}
'''''Impatiens capensis''''', the '''orange jewelweed''', '''common jewelweed''', '''spotted jewelweed''', ''' jewelweed''',<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dickinson |first1=T. |last2=Metsger |first2=D. |last3=Bull |first3=J. |last4=Dickinson |first4=R. |date=2004 |title=ROM Field Guide to Wildflowers of Ontario |publisher=[[Royal Ontario Museum]] and McClelland and Stewart Ltd. |location=Toronto |page=197}}</ref> '''spotted touch-me-not''', or '''orange balsam''',<ref name=BSBI07>{{BSBI 2007 |access-date=2014-10-17 }}</ref> is an [[annual plant]] in the family [[Balsaminaceae]] that is native to [[North America]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ceska |first1=Dr. A. |title=Botanical Electronic News, No. 408 |url=http://www.ou.edu/cas/botany-micro/ben/ben408.html |access-date=15 June 2020 |date=21 April 2009}}</ref> It is common in bottomland soils, ditches, and along creeks, often growing side by side with its less common relative, [[yellow jewelweed]] (''I. pallida'').
==Description== [[File:Orange Jewelweed, Ottawa.jpg|thumb|left|Flowers and leaves]] Jewelweed is a [[herbaceous]] plant that grows {{convert |3-5|ft|m|1|order=flip|abbr=on|}} tall.<ref name=":1">{{Illinois Wildflowers|wetland/plants/or_jewelweed|Orange Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis)}}</ref> It often branches extensively. The round stems are glabrous (smooth) and succulent,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/wetland/plants/or_jewelweed.htm|title=Orange Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis)|website=www.illinoiswildflowers.info}}</ref> and semi-translucent, with swollen or darkened nodes on some plants. The leaves, which measure up to {{convert|5|in|cm|0|order=flip|abbr=on|}} long and {{convert|6|cm|frac=2|abbr=on}} across, are alternate on the upper stems and opposite on the lower stems (when present). The leaves are [[ovate (botany)|ovate]] to elliptic, simple, and have shallow, rounded teeth on the margins.<ref name="ANPS">{{cite web |title=Know Your Natives – Spotted Jewelweed |url=https://anps.org/2015/07/31/know-your-natives-spotted-jewelweed/ |website=Arkansas Native Plant Society |language=en |date=31 July 2015}}</ref> The seed pods have five valves which coil back rapidly to eject the seeds in a process called [[explosive dehiscence]]<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hayashi |first1=Marika |last2=Feilich |first2=Kara |last3=Ellerby |first3=David |title=The mechanics of explosive seed dispersal in orange jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) |journal=Journal of Experimental Botany |date=May 2009 |volume=60 |issue=7 |pages=2045–2046 |doi=10.1093/jxb/erp070|pmc=2682495 |pmid=19321647 }}</ref> or ballistochory. This reaction is where the name 'touch-me-not' comes from; in mature seed pods, dehiscence can easily be triggered with a light touch.
The plant blooms from late spring to early fall. The flowers are {{Convert|2-3|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} long,<ref name="tfb">{{Cite book |last=Francis-Baker |first=Tiffany |title=Concise Foraging Guide |date=2021 |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing|Bloomsbury]] |isbn=978-1-4729-8474-6 |series=[[The Wildlife Trusts]] |location=London |page=68}}</ref> orange (sometimes blood orange or rarely yellow) with a three-lobed corolla; one of the calyx lobes is colored similarly to the corolla and forms a hooked conical spur at the back of the flower. Plants may also produce non-showy [[cleistogamous]] flowers, which do not require cross-pollination.<ref name=":1" />
=== Pollination === [[File:Impatiens capensis with bumblebee.jpg|thumb|A carpenter bee feeding on jewelweed]] Nectar [[Spur (botany)|spurs]] are tubular elongations of petals and sepals of certain flowers that usually contain nectar. Flowers of ''I. capensis'' have these nectar spurs. Nectar spurs are thought to have played a role in plant-pollinator coevolution. Curvature angles of nectar spurs of ''I. capensis'' are variable. This angle varies from 0 degrees to 270 degrees.<ref name="Tavers">{{cite journal |last1=Travers |first1=Steven E |last2=Temeles |first2=Ethan J |last3=Pan |first3=Irvin |year=2003 |title=The relationship between nectar spur curvature in jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) and pollen removal by hummingbird pollinators |journal=Canadian Journal of Botany |volume=81 |issue=2 |pages=164–70 |doi=10.1139/b03-014}}</ref>
The angle of the nectar spur is very important in the pollination of the flower and in determining the most efficient pollinator. [[Hummingbirds]] are major pollinators. They remove more pollen per visit from flowers with curved nectar spurs than with perpendicular nectar spurs.<ref name="Tavers" /> But hummingbirds are not the only pollinators of ''I. capensis''. [[Bees]], especially [[bumblebee]]s play an important role in pollination as well. Due to hummingbirds and bees, the pollination of ''I. capensis'' is very high.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Elemans |first1=Marjet |year=2004 |title=Light, nutrients and the growth of herbaceous forest species |journal=Acta Oecologica |volume=26 |issue=3 |pages=197–202 |bibcode=2004AcO....26..197E |doi=10.1016/j.actao.2004.05.003}}</ref>
==Distribution== ''Impatiens capensis'' was transported in the 19th and 20th centuries to England, France, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Finland, and potentially other areas of northern and central Europe. These naturalized populations persist in the absence of any common cultivation by people. This jewelweed species is quite similar to ''[[Impatiens noli-tangere]]'', an ''Impatiens'' species native to Europe and Asia, as well as the other North American ''Impatiens''. No evidence exists of natural hybrids, although the habitats occupied by the two species are very similar.{{Citation needed|date=April 2019}}
In the [[State of Washington]], ''I. capensis'' is considered a class-C [[noxious weed]] due to its rapid spread and tendency to outcompete native jewelweeds.<ref>{{cite web |title=Spotted Jewelweed |url=https://www.nwcb.wa.gov/weeds/spotted-jewelweed |website=Washington State Noxious Weed Control Board |publisher=Washington State |access-date=October 25, 2020}}</ref> It has also formed a hybrid species with the native jewelweed ''[[Impatiens ecornuta]]''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zika |first1=Peter |title=Impatiens ×pacifica (Balsaminaceae), a New Hybrid Jewelweed from the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America |journal=Novon: A Journal for Botanical Nomenclature |date=Sep 2006 |volume=16 |issue=3 |pages=443–448 |doi=10.3417/1055-3177(2006)16[443:IPBANH]2.0.CO;2|s2cid=83544635 }}</ref>
== Uses ==
=== As food === The young shoots can be boiled (with two changes of water) as a [[potherb]]; eating too much is not recommended as the plant contains [[calcium oxalate]] crystals.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last1=Elias|first1=Thomas S.|title=Edible Wild Plants: A North American Field Guide to Over 200 Natural Foods|last2=Dykeman|first2=Peter A.|publisher=[[Sterling Publishing|Sterling]]|year=2009|isbn=978-1-4027-6715-9|location=New York|page=119|oclc=244766414|orig-date=1982}}</ref> The seeds are also edible,<ref name=":0" /> and probably best before exploding.<ref name="tfb" />
=== Medicinal === Along with other species of [[jewelweed]], the juice of the leaves and stems is a traditional Native American remedy for skin rashes, including [[poison ivy]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Smith |first=Huron H. |date=1933 |title=Ethnobotany of the Forest Potawatomi Indians |journal=Bulletin of the Public Museum of the City of Milwaukee |volume=7 |page=42}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Fagan|first=Damian|title=Wildflowers of Oregon: A Field Guide to Over 400 Wildflowers, Trees, and Shrubs of the Coast, Cascades, and High Desert|publisher=[[FalconGuides]]|year=2019|isbn=978-1-4930-3633-2|location=Guilford, CT|page=227|oclc=1073035766}}</ref> The effectiveness of its use to prevent the development of a rash after short-term exposure to poison ivy has been supported by peer-reviewed study, and is likely due to the plant containing [[saponin]]s.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Motz |first1=Vicki |last2=Bowers |first2=Christopher |last3=Kneubehl |first3=Alexander |last4=Lendrum |first4=Elizabeth |last5=Young |first5=Linda |last6=Kinder |first6=David |title=Efficacy of the saponin component of Impatiens capensis Meerb. in preventing urushiol-induced contact dermatitis |journal=Journal of Ethnopharmacology |date=2015 |volume=162 |pages=163–7 |doi=10.1016/j.jep.2014.12.024|pmid=25543019 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Motz|author2=Bowers|author3=Young|author4=Kinder|title=The effectiveness of jewelweed, Impatiens capensis, the related cultivar I. balsamina and the component, lawsone in preventing post poison ivy exposure contact dermatitis.|journal=Journal of Ethnopharmacology|date=2012|volume=143|issue=1|pages=314–318|doi=10.1016/j.jep.2012.06.038|pmid=22766473}}</ref> These studies also found that some individuals have a sensitivity to jewelweed which can cause a more severe rash.
The stem juice has also been used to treat [[athlete's foot]]; its [[fungicidal]] qualities have been scientifically verified.<ref name=Audubon>{{cite book |last1=Niering |first1=William A. |author-link1=William Niering| last2=Olmstead |first2=Nancy C. |title=The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers, Eastern Region |year=1985 |orig-date=1979|publisher=Knopf |isbn=0-394-50432-1 |page=414}}</ref>
==Etymology== The leaves appear to be silver or 'jeweled' when held underwater, which is possibly where the jewelweed name comes from. Another possible source of the name is the color and shape of the bright robin's egg-blue kernels of the green projectile seeds.{{Citation needed|date=April 2019}} Both the genus name ''Impatiens'' ("impatience" in Latin) and common name spotted touch-me-not refer to how its seeds when ripe pop open on touch.<ref>{{cite web |title=Wildflowers of the Adirondacks: Spotted Touch-Me-Not (Impatiens capensis) |url=https://wildadirondacks.org/adirondack-wildflowers-spotted-touch-me-not-impatiens-capensis.html |website=ADIRONDACKS FOREVER WILD |publisher=Wild Adirondacks |access-date=28 August 2022}}</ref>
The species name ''capensis'', meaning "of the cape", is actually a misnomer, as Nicolaas Meerburgh was under the mistaken impression that it was native to the [[Cape of Good Hope]], in southern [[Africa]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Strausbaugh |first1=P.D. |last2=Core |first2=E. L. |date=1964 |title=Flora of West Virginia |edition=2nd |publisher=Seneca Books |isbn=978-0-89092-010-7 |page=622}}</ref>
==Gallery== <gallery> File:Jewel Weed Impatiens capensis Leaves and Flower 2600px.jpg|Leaves and flowers File:Jewel Weed Impatiens capensis Creek Side 3200px.jpg|Jewelweed growing on a creek side File:Impatiens capensis 3, Jewelweed, Howard County, MD, Helen Lowe Metzman 2017-09-28-17.43 (38146241886).jpg|Flower closeup File:2017-09-02 16 32 48 Jewelweed in flower just after rain with water beading on the leaves (hence the name 'Jewelweed') along a walking path in the Franklin Farm section of Oak Hill, Fairfax County, Virginia.jpg|Leaf showing beads (jewels) just after rain </gallery>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons}} {{Wikispecies}} {{Wikiversity-bc|Impatiens capensis}} *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdKVYUwbZh0&t=25s Jewelweed]
{{Taxonbar|from=Q2462343}}
[[Category:Impatiens|capensis]] [[Category:Flora of Northern America]] [[Category:Plants described in 1775]] [[Category:Anxiolytics]]