the.com/impatiens
the flower so eager to spread it fires seeds like a loaded spring trap.
means A genus of flowering plants—common bedding and houseplants like Busy Lizzie and touch-me-not—known for seed pods that burst open at the slightest touch to scatter their seeds.
from Straight from Latin 'impatiens,' meaning 'impatient' or 'unable to bear'—from 'in-' (not) plus 'patiens' (enduring, suffering), the same root behind 'patient.' Botanists named it for the ripe seed pods, which can't bear to be touched and explode at a brush of the finger, flinging seeds away. That same trait gives the plant its folk name 'touch-me-not.'
- name origin
- Latin for impatient, from explosive seed pods
- touch me not
- ripe pods burst when lightly touched
- shade lovers
- thrive where sun-hungry flowers refuse to bloom
- global spread
- native to Africa and Asia, now everywhere
- downy mildew
- a plague nearly wiped them from gardens
impatiens walleriana — most common bedding impatiens species, native to tanzania, produces thousands of small flowers annually
impatiens hawkeri — new guinea impatiens, bred in 1970s, larger flowers and thicker foliage than walleriana
impatiens glandulifera — himalayan balsam, invasive in uk and europe, grows 4-6 feet tall with purple-pink flowers