Impatiens balsamina
Impatiens balsamina (garden balsam, garden jewelweed, rose balsam, touch-me-not) is a species of Impatiens native to southern Asia in India and Burma.
It is an annual plant growing to 20–75 cm tall, with a thick, but soft stem. The leaves are spirally-arranged, 2.5–9 cm long and 1–2.5 cm broad, with a deeply toothed margin.
The flowers are pink, red, mauve, lilac, or white, and 2.5–5 cm diameter; they are pollinated by bees and other insects, and also by nectar-feeding birds.
The ripe seed capsules undergo explosive dehiscence.
Medicinal use
Different parts of the plant are used as traditional remedies for disease and skin afflictions. Juice from the leaves is used to treat warts and snakebite, and the flower is applied to burns.
This species has been used as indigenous traditional medicine in Asia for rheumatism, fractures, and other ailments.
In Korean folk medicine, this impatiens species is used as a medicine called bongseonhwa dae (봉선화대) for the treatment of constipation and gastritis.
Chinese used the plant to treat those bitten by snakes or who ingested poisonous fish.[6] Juice from the stalk, pulverised dried stalks, and pastes from the flowers were also used to treat a variety of ailments.
Vietnamese wash their hair with an extract of the plant to stimulate hair growth.
One in vitro study found extracts of this impatiens species, especially of the seed pod, to be active against antibiotic-resistant strains of Helicobacter pylori.
It is also an inhibitor of 5α-reductases, enzymes that reduce testosterone levels.
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