About Impatiens balfourii Hook.fil.
Impatiens balfourii Hook.fil. is an annual herb. It reaches a height between 15 and 120 centimetres (5.9 to 47.2 inches). Its stem is glabrous, reddish, lined, and heavily branched. Its leaves are alternately arranged, oval to lance-shaped, toothed, stalked, and grow up to 4 centimetres (1.6 inches) long. Its inflorescence is a raceme that typically holds 4 to 8 flowers. Each flower is around 2 centimetres (0.79 inches) long; one white sepal forms a long, thin spur, and two yellow-dotted lavender or pink petals extend from the flower mouth. It is native to the Himalayas, specifically Kashmir and surrounding areas, where it grows in mountains from 5,000 to 6,000 feet. It was introduced to England and many other European countries as a garden plant, and later gained popularity in the San Francisco Bay Area and other regions of the United States. It can now be found growing wild as a garden escapee in Europe, on the US Pacific Coast, and in Wisconsin, where it is a restricted species due to its invasiveness. In its native wild range, the plant grows along river banks, on roadsides, and in wastelands. It thrives in cool, moist areas, at an altitude of 100 to 600 metres (330 to 1,970 feet) above sea level. The flowers are hermaphrodite (perfect), and are pollinated by insects, or by hummingbirds in the Americas. Flowering occurs from July through September. The fruits are glabrous capsules around 20 millimetres (0.79 inches) long. Seeds are dispersed when the fruit bursts, launching seeds as far as 6 metres (20 feet) away.
