Family: touch-me-nots (Balsaminaceae)
Flowering time: July–August
Height: 50–200 cm
Habitat: banks of streams and rivers and meadows
The branched stem of the glandular touch-me-not (Impatiens glandulifera) is branched in the upper part. Its sharply serrated, ovate-lanceolate leaves are up to 25 cm long. The lower stem leaves are opposite, the upper ones are arranged in whorls. The leaf petioles are studded with stalked glands. The two-lipped bilabiate flowers are crimson-red, pink or white. The flowers, which form a racemose inflorescence, are 25 to 40 mm long together with the upper lip. When ripe, the 3 to 5 cm long fruit explosively opens and ejects seeds, which is characteristic of species of this genus. This annual plant, originating from the Himalayas, was cultivated here as an ornamental plant, but then it escaped from gardens and spread rapidly.
This is an invasive species, as in places where it grows it displaces native vegetation! It grows best on river banks and along drainage ditches.
