Impatiens balsamina

Smets, E. F. & Janssens, S. B., 2018, Balsaminaceae of Myanmar, Blumea 63 (3), pp. 199-267 : 237-238

37. Impatiens balsamina L. — Map 14; Plate 3c

Impatiens balsamina L. (1753) 938; Wall .(1824) 453;Pidd.(1832) 45; Roxb. (1832) 651; Wight & Arn. (1834) 135; Miq. (1860) 162, 396; Hook.f. & Thomsom (1860) 130; Hook.f. (1875) 453; (1904b) 4; (1905) 13; (1909) 7; T. Shimizu (1970) 188; Y.L. Chen et al. (2007) 44. — Balsamina hortensis DC.(1824) 685. — Impatiens balsamina L. var. vulgaris Wight & Arn.(1834) 136. — Type: Anonymous s.n. (lecto, designated in Christenhusz & Jarvis (2010) LINN-HL1053.5*).

Impatiens cornuta L. (1753) 937. — Balsamina cornuta DC. (1824) 686. — Impatiens balsamina L. var. sylvestris Wight & Arn. (1834) 136. syn. in Hooker (1904a) 25. — Type: Paul Hermann 3: 9, no. 316 (lecto,designated in Singh (2017) BM BM000621820), Sri Lanka.

Impatiens coccinea Sims (1810) 1256; Wall . (1831) 167, n 4732. — Balsamina coccinea (Sims) DC. (1824) 685;G. Don (1831) 748,syn. in Hooker (1904a) 25. — Type: Sims (1810) 1256, illustration of specimen cultivated in Sloane street by Mr. Salisbury, seeds received from Mr Roxburgh, east India.

Impatiens balsamina L. var. longifolia Wight & Arn.(1834) 136. — Impatiens longifolia Benth. ex Wall.(1831) n. 4734, nom.nud., syn.in Hooker (1904a) 25. — Type: Walll. Cat . no 4734 (K K001039792).

Impatiens arcuata Wight & Arn. (1834) 136. — Impatiens balsamina L. var. arcuata Hook.f. (1875) 454, syn.in Hooker (1904a) 25. — Type: Wall . Cat . no. 4735 (K K000694978), India.

Impatiens salicifolia Bojer ex Baker (1884) 115. — Balsamina salicifolia Bojer MSS. — Type: Perrotet 185 (iso KW KW001000613*), India, Nilgeriensis.

Impatiens stapfiana Gilg (1909) 111. — Type: Whyte s.n. (syn B B100153247*; syn K K000419536), Kenya, Aug. 1903.

Impatiens eriocarpa Launert (1962) 59. — Type: Sousa 1668 (LISC not seen), Mozambique, N Maniamba,Missão de S. António de Unango ,1934.

Terrestrial, annual herb, up to 90 cm tall. Stem annual, erect, c. 7 mm diam, stout, laxly branched, light green, pilose. Leaves spirally arranged. Petiole sessile– 2 mm long, c. 3 mm diam, green, pilose. Lamina up to 140 by 33 mm, narrowly elliptic to lanceolate, apex acute, base cuneate, margin serrate, coriaceous, adaxial green and remotely pilose, abaxial pale green, with one pair of spherical glands at the base; lateral veins 6 or 7 pairs. Flowers solitary, axillary, erect, c. 20 mm long, white to pink to red to variegate. Pedicel up to 15 mm long, c. 1 mm diam, pale green to pale pink, strigose. Bracts c. 1 by <1 mm, narrowly triangular, apex acute, green, glabrous. Lateral sepals 2, c. 2 by <1 mm, free, ovate, apex mucronate, base obtuse, green, scabrous. Lower sepal c. 15 by 7 mm, 5 mm deep, navicular, apex mucronate, base obtuse, pinkish white, reddish white, or white, with yellow lines at the centre, pilose, dorsal part abruptly constricted into an incurved spur, up to 30 mm long, pink with green at tip. Dorsal petal c. 20 by 27 mm, broadly obovate, cucullate to flat, apex obcordate and mucronate, base obtuse, white to pink to red to variegate, glabrous, abaxial midvein with a keel-shaped crest. Lateral united petals free: the upper petals c. 15 by 20 mm, broadly obovate, apex emarginate, base cuneate, white to pink to red to variegate; the lower petals 18 by 24 mm, free, broadly obovate, apex emarginate, white to pink to red to variegate, glabrous. Stamens: filaments c. 3 mm long, pale pink; anthers pinkish white. Ovary 5-locular, c. 4 mm long, green, densely pilose. Fruits c. 9 mm long, 4 mm diam, fusiform, 5-lobed, green, densely pilose. Seeds 3–4 mm long, globose; seed coat granulate.

Phenology — Flowering: October to March; fruiting: September to March.

Distribution — Very common, with a wide distribution from India to Indonesia. This species is also cultivated as garden ornamental.

Ecology — Cultivated in gardens and along roadsides, 0– 1700 m altitude.

Other collections examined. MYANMAR, Chin State, Ling Shein Mang 092955 (MBK MBK0250394),around Kanpetlet,Natma Taung National Park, alt. 1350 m, semi-evergreen forest,along stream, 1 July 2013; Wall . Cat . no. 4733 (K K001039791), Irrawaddy river, 1826.

Notes — Linnaeus (1753) did not clearly designate the type in the protologue but the specimen Anonymous s.n. (LINN-HL1053.5) was deposited at the Linnean Society of London Herbarium (LINN) and was labelled with number 5, which likely represents the species number of I. balsamina in the Species Plantarum.

Impatiens balsamina is highly variable in colour. It is unclear whether this variation is natural or represents selective breeding of cultivars.

This species has already been widely cultivated a long time ago ( Dodoens 1583), so it is very difficult to identify whether populations are wild or cultivated.