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Common Name: Pale Jewel Weed, Snapweed, Touch-me-Not, Silverweed
Scientific Name: Impatiens pallida
Family: Balsaminaceae
Native Annual Herb
Highway 74
Nantahala Gorge, North Carolina
July 30, 2002
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A branched, succulent-stemmed, native annual herb 2 - 6 feet tall with spurred, zygomorphic, weakly spotted flowers about an inch long. A plant of the northeastern U.S. that grows in moist areas with neutral or basic soil, it is found in the mountains and a few piedmont counties in North Carolina. July - September [Justice, William S. and Bell, C. Ritchie, Wild Flowers of North Carolina. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 1968]
This has very similar flowers to the orange jewelweed (Impatiens capensis). Its yellow coloration and side-turned sepal spur will differentiate the two. Both plants are also called snapweed and touch-me-not, because of their fruit. The seeds mature inside a tightly coiled capsule. When ripe, the capsule "explodes" if touched, dispersing the seed. Carefully enclose a ripe fruit in your hands and capture its contents. Remove the coiled attachment to expose the robin-egg blue seed inside. This edible seed tastes like a sunflower seed. Many people maintain the sap of this plant will ease poison ivy itch. A rare, cream-colored version of pale jewelweed occurs on cold, north-facing slopes at high elevations. [White, Peter, Wildflowers of the Smokies. Great Smoky Mountains Natural History Association, Gatlinburg, 1996]
The soothing and medicinal juices of this plant have long been used as a remedy for poison ivy and other skin irritations. In the Northeast, the plant is known as silverweed, because of the silvery appearance of the leaves when placed in water. [Alderman, J. Anthony, Wildflowers of the Blue Ridge Parkway. The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 1997]
January February March April May June July August September October November December
Alphabetical Listings -- A B C D, E F G H I, J, K L M N, O P Q, R S T U, V W X, Y, Z
Family Listings -- A B C D, E F G H I, J, K L M N, O P Q, R S T U, V W X, Y, Z
Genus Listings -- A B C D, E F G H I, J, K L M N, O P Q, R S T U, V W X, Y, Z