About Impatiens hawkeri W.Bull
Impatiens hawkeri, commonly called New Guinea impatiens, is a flowering plant species belonging to the family Balsaminaceae. It is native to Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. This species has been bred and hybridized in cultivation to create a group of garden plants. It was first collected in the Territory of Papua in 1884, and quickly gained popularity as a greenhouse plant. After its initial discovery, fifteen other similar taxa from New Guinea were collected; all of these were later determined to be different forms of I. hawkeri. Nurseries currently sell plants of this species that display a wide variety of flower and leaf colours. It has been crossed with Impatiens aurantiaca and Impatiens platypetala to improve characteristics like drought resistance.
