Spotted Touch-me-not   (Jewelweed)

Impatiens capensis

Familiar from damp woods and marshy places, this native annual produces a profusion of succulent stems and leaves, the latter usually about 2-3 inches in length, on short stalks, and with shallow  teeth on the margins. Stems are easily broken. The orange, horn-like flowers are suspended from above.  After blooming, they develop into cylindrical, shiny, light green seed capsules about 3/8 inch in diameter and 3/4 of an inch long; these will sometimes 'pop' if rolled between the fingers or brushed, a system for spreading the seed a short distance from the parent plant.

2-5 feet, shade. Damp locations.

Summer (July-September).

22 July 2020.

Spotted Touch-me-not, 30 August 2020.