Impatiens capensis (Spotted Touch-me-not): orange Minnesota wildflowers

Impatiens capensis (Spotted Touch-me-not)

Plant Info
Also known as:	Jewelweed
Genus:	Impatiens
Family:	Balsaminaceae (Touch-me-not)
Life cycle:	annual
Origin:	native
Habitat:	sun to shade; moist thickets, along shores
Bloom season:	summer
Plant height:	2 to 5 feet
USDA PLANTS database:	Minnesota county distribution map
Spotted in Ramsey County at:	Battle Creek Regional Park Long Lake Regional Park Rice Creek Trail Corridor Vadnais/Snail Lake Regional Park

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Detailed Information

Flower:: Groups of 1 to 3 flowers are in racemes on branching stems in the upper part of the plant. Flowers are about 1 inch long and ½ to ¾ inch wide, tube or funnel shaped with a long narrow spur at the back the curls back under the tube. Nectar is stored in the spur. There are 2 round broad lower lobes and a much smaller upper lobe. Color is orange with a varying amount of red spots on the inside of the flower. The spots are sometimes absent altogether, or so many that the lower lobes look more red than orange.
Leaves and stem:: Leaves are 1 to 3 inches long, up to 1½ inches wide, hairless, generally oval to egg-shaped, with widely spaced teeth around the edges and stems up to about 1 inch long. Attachment is alternate. The main stem is usually light green and can be transluscent, or nearly so.
Fruit:: Fruit is a thin pod about 1 inch long that pops open at the slightest touch, throwing seeds in all directions, hence the name “touch me not”.
Notes:: Spotted Touch-me-not and Pale Touch-me-not are similar species, but the latter is overall a larger plant with noticeably larger flowers and the spur on its flower is much shorter. When I first came upon a Spotted Touch-me-not that didn't have red spots I thought it might be Pale Touch-me-not, but that was not the case. Once you see both plants you can immediately see the difference in the flowers. According to one of my field guides, Touch-me-not is an important nectar plant for hummingbirds. The stems also contain a juice that can relieve the sting from Poison Ivy or Stinging Nettle.

More photos

Photos taken at Long Lake Regional Park, New Brighton, MN, Battle Creek Regional Park, St Paul, MN and Vadnais/Snail Lake Regional Park, Shoreview, MN September 2006 and July-September 2009

Comments

Have you seen this plant in Minnesota, or have any other comments about it?

Posted by: virginia r.
on: 2008-09-18 21:49:16

thank you for your wonderful website! i found the Impatiens capensis while on a hike by the marshes on the snail lake trails. i thought it may be an orchid, because of the shape of the flower, so i wanted to look it up. not an orchod, but jewel weed! a poison ivy remedy... so awesome...

i just moved here from north carolina, and i've really been enjoying all of the beautiful trails that are available in this area. the wild and plant life are so abundant!

thanks again for the wonderfully informative sight ;)

Posted by: Ed C in southern Wright County
on: 2009-08-16 15:30:16

Aug 16,2009 Masses blooming along my driveway. Land is marshy. The plants are quite striking in bloom.

Posted by: Muhammad in Shingle Creek, West River Parkway
on: 2010-03-03 07:02:12

This plant is eminently well-named. The first time I touched a seed pod, I thought I had been attacked by a small animal. It turns out the pod had exploded and released its seeds. Lovely plant.

Posted by: M. Bartz in Southern Carlton County
on: 2010-05-23 08:54:04

At the edge of the lawn in the house I grew up in, there was a massive patch of Touch-me-nots. Which could create endless fun for a small easily amused child like myself. As a child I often made up names for plants that I did not know. I deemed this one the Pinch-me-plant. Even though I am all grown up, this plant still brings out the child in me. Last summer while walking with my three-year-old niece, we came across a patch of Touch-me-nots. I showed her how you could pinch the seed pods and they would pop. It was like looking at a mirror of my childhood as she discovered and played with this wonderous plant.

Posted by: Alison in St. Paul, MN
on: 2010-07-07 13:14:09

This touch-me-not can be found in Lilydale Regional Park in Saint Paul along the trail to the fossil grounds.

Posted by: Sandy in Southern Crow Wing County
on: 2010-08-07 10:02:01

They're growing in the unmowed areas adjacent to my yard.

Posted by: DM in Nisswa
on: 2010-08-23 12:55:29

I just found Spotted Touch-Me-Nots blooming in abundance next to the waters edge by my dock on the channel between Nisswa & Roy Lakes. Thanks to this great site I was able to identify them.