Pale Jewelweed. Pale Touch-me-not, Impatiens pallida Nutt., Native Minnesota Wildflower plant, Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden

(Pale Jewelweed, Wild Balsam). Flowers: Jewelweeds, or Touch-me-nots, have 1 inch flowers hanging on a long stalk and the flowers have a curved nectar spur at the back end. Flowers arise from the leaf axils, usually in a cluster of up to 3. Flowers have 5 petals but two are nearly united so that it appears there are only 3, one forming the upper lip and two forming the wrinkled looking lower lobes. There are 3 sepals, with the larger forming the cone of the back of the flower and the spur. The other 2 are light green and are seen at the top of the corolla. Five stamens and 1 pistil. Leaves are egg shape with coarse teeth and slender long stalks. Stems are succulent, 2 to 5 feet high, easily broken. The fruit is a pod that when mature will explode and expel the seed some distance - hence the common name of "touch-me-not". Seeds are longer than wide, brown with lighter ridges.

These are plants of moist places and are true annuals. Because of this their abundance varies from year to year - and they are found only in moist areas of the Garden during drier years. Pale Touch-me-not has pale yellow flowers with few spots. The spur on the back bends at a right angle downward, but not underneath and forward and upward like the Spotted Touch-me-not, I. capensis, however, the position of the spur will vary depending on the maturity of the flower. Both the Spotted and the Pale Touch-me-nots are in the Woodland Garden but the Spotted is much more prolific and invasive. At the end of summer the spotted is seen all over the marsh area. The genus name impatiens is Latin for "impatient" referring to the characteristic of the seed to explode from the dry seed head. The species name pallida refers to "pale". I. pallida is not known to have toxicity problems like Spotted Touch-me-not.

	Plants of the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden
	Common Name	Scientific Name	Plant Family	Garden Location	Prime Season
	Pale Touch-me-Not	Impatiens pallida Nutt.	Touch-me-not	Woodland	Late Summer to Autumn
Other names and notes	(Pale Jewelweed, Wild Balsam). Flowers: Jewelweeds, or Touch-me-nots, have 1 inch flowers hanging on a long stalk and the flowers have a curved nectar spur at the back end. Flowers arise from the leaf axils, usually in a cluster of up to 3. Flowers have 5 petals but two are nearly united so that it appears there are only 3, one forming the upper lip and two forming the wrinkled looking lower lobes. There are 3 sepals, with the larger forming the cone of the back of the flower and the spur. The other 2 are light green and are seen at the top of the corolla. Five stamens and 1 pistil. Leaves are egg shape with coarse teeth and slender long stalks. Stems are succulent, 2 to 5 feet high, easily broken. The fruit is a pod that when mature will explode and expel the seed some distance - hence the common name of "touch-me-not". Seeds are longer than wide, brown with lighter ridges. These are plants of moist places and are true annuals. Because of this their abundance varies from year to year - and they are found only in moist areas of the Garden during drier years. Pale Touch-me-not has pale yellow flowers with few spots. The spur on the back bends at a right angle downward, but not underneath and forward and upward like the Spotted Touch-me-not, I. capensis, however, the position of the spur will vary depending on the maturity of the flower. Both the Spotted and the Pale Touch-me-nots are in the Woodland Garden but the Spotted is much more prolific and invasive. At the end of summer the spotted is seen all over the marsh area. The genus name impatiens is Latin for "impatient" referring to the characteristic of the seed to explode from the dry seed head. The species name pallida refers to "pale". I. pallida is not known to have toxicity problems like Spotted Touch-me-not.