- Family: Balsaminaceae A.Rich.
- Genus: Impatiens Riv. ex L.
Impatiens tinctoria A.Rich.
- Genus: Impatiens Riv. ex L.
This species is accepted, and its native range is Eritrea to N. Uganda.
[FTEA]
Balsaminaceae, C. Grey-Wilson. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1993
- Habit
- Upright glabrous perennial to 2 m. tall, with a large swollen tuberous rootstock at or just below the soil surface.
- Leaves
- Leaves spirally arranged; petiole (0.5–)1–6(–9) cm. long, rather slender, sometimes with a few short-stipitate or almost sessile glands in the upper half and close to the lamina; lamina oblong or oblong-lanceolate to broadly ovate, 7.5–23 cm. long, 2.6–9.8 cm. broad, the apex subobtuse to acute, often shortly acuminate, the base shortly attenuate or cuneate; lateral veins (7–)8–12(–14) pairs; margin coarsely or finely crenate or ± serrate.
- Inflorescences
- Inflorescence a 3–7(–9)-flowered raceme, rarely subumbellate; flowers white, the lower lateral petals often veined or spotted pink or purple towards the base.
- Peduncles
- Peduncle 8.5–30 cm. long, upright.
- Bracts
- Bracts oblong to ovate, 6–11 mm. long, the apex obtuse or shortly acuminate.
- Pedicel
- Pedicels 15–36(–40) mm. long, rather slender, Lateral sepals 4, ovate or oblong, 6–10 mm. long, 4–7 mm. broad, shortly acuminate.
- Calyx
- Lower sepal shallowly and obliquely navicular or funnel-shaped, 12–25 mm. long at the mouth, 2–18 mm. deep, abruptly or ± gradually constricted into a 3–13 cm. long curved filiform spur, slightly swollen at the tip.
- Corolla
- Dorsal petal 17–22 mm. long, 10–14 mm. broad, cucullate, shallowly crested dorsally, the crest terminating in a short acute point. Lateral united petals 20–55 mm. long; upper petal very reduced, suborbicular or oblong-elliptic, 6–15 mm. long, 2–5 mm. broad; lower petal orbicular or transversely oblong, 18–50 mm. long, 16–46 mm. broad, ± with an emargination along the inner margin towards the top.
- Ovary
- Ovary glabrous.
- Fruits
- Fruit obcylindric, shortly beaked, 32–40 mm. long.
- Seeds
- Seeds ovoidal, glabrous, the surface of the testa consisting of an even covering of tiny cells.
[FZ]
Balsaminaceae, E. Launert. Flora Zambesiaca 2:1. 1963
- Habit
- A very tall much-branched shrubby perennial, up to 2·2 m. high or more; stems up to 3·8 cm. in diam., pale green flecked with brown, older ones hollow, usually glabrous.
- Leaves
- Leaves spirally arranged, petiolate; lamina (5·5) 7·5–12·5 (15) × (3·5) 5–7·5 (8·5) cm., elliptic to ovate or broadly elliptic, bright green above, greyish-green below, membranous, glabrous on both surfaces or very shortly hairy beneath when young, apex usually acute or rarely subobtuse and acuminate or cuspidate, margin crenulate-denticulate, base cuneate; secondary nerves 13–18 pairs; petiole (1) 2–5 (6·5) cm. long, usually glabrous.
- Flowers
- Flowers in very showy lax open racemes, white with reddish marks at the base of the lateral petals; peduncle 7–18 (25) cm. long, rather robust, glabrous or very sparsely hairy; bracts 6–9 mm. long, elliptic or ovate, apiculate, with rounded base, usually glabrous, persistent; pedicels up to 3·3 cm. long, usually glabrous, subsucculent.
- Calyx
- Lateral sepals 2, up to 10 × 4 mm., ovate-oblong, acute or often apiculate, glabrous or very shortly pilose; posterior sepal 2·25–2·8 cm. long, c. 1·5 cm. deep, obliquely-funnel-shaped, gradually tapering into the spur, distally acute, usually glabrous; spur 7–10 (13) cm. long, relatively slender, subconical or cylindric, with the end slightly thickened, usually incurved, sometimes recurved (when very young), rarely straight.
- Corolla
- Anterior petal 1·3–1·7 × 1·4–1·6 cm. (when flattened), broadly ovate to semi-circular, apically entire and acuminate, without dorsal crest; lateral united petals 3·5–4·5 cm. long, deeply 2-Iobed, the lobes very different in shape and size, glabrous; anterior lobe large, up to 3 × 3 cm. or even more, broadly oblique-obovate, distally usually retuse to emarginate; posterior lobe much smaller, c. 7·5 × 6 mm., obovate-oblong to obovate.
- Ovary
- Ovary glabrous.
- Fruits
- Capsule 2–2·5 (3) cm. long, fusiform, broader in the upper half, with the apex ± rostrate, glabrous.
- Seeds
- Seeds numerous, c. 3·5 × 1·8 mm., ovate-oblong in outline, with a wrinkled or papillose surface, reddish-brown.
Native to:
Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, Uganda, Zaïre
Impatiens tinctoria A.Rich. appears in other Kew resources:
First published in Tent. Fl. Abyss. 1: 120 (1847)
Accepted by
- Darbyshire, I., Kordofani, M., Farag, I., Candiga, R. & Pickering, H. (eds.) (2015). The Plants of Sudan and South Sudan: 1-400. Kew publishing, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
- Edwards, S., Tadesse, M., Demissew, S. & Hedberg, I. (eds.) (2000). Flora of Ethiopia and Eritrea 2(1): 1-532. The National Herbarium, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia & The Department of Systematic Botany, Upps.
- Grey-Wilson, C. (1982). Flora of Tropical East Africa, Balsaminaceae: 1-76.
Literature
Kew Backbone Distributions
- Darbyshire, I., Kordofani, M., Farag, I., Candiga, R. & Pickering, H. (eds.) (2015). The Plants of Sudan and South Sudan: 1-400. Kew publishing, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Flora of Tropical East Africa
- Grey-Wilson, Impat. Afr.: 154 (1980).
- Cufod., Enumeratio Plantarum Aethiopiae Spermatophyta (Supplement in Bull. Jard. Bot. Brux.) p. 497 (1958).
- Gilg in A. Engler, Botanische Jahrbücher für Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengeographie 43: 125 (1909).
- Hook. f. in Flora of Tropical Africa 1: 302 (1868).
- A. Rich., Tent. Fl. Abyss. 1: 120 (1847).
Flora Zambesiaca
Flora Zambesiaca
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
Flora of Tropical East Africa
Flora of Tropical East Africa
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
Kew Backbone Distributions
The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2021. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
© Copyright 2017 World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone
The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2021. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
© Copyright 2017 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0