8 



* IMPATIENS macrochila. 

 Large-lipped Balsam. 



PENTANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 



Nat ord. Balsamine^e (Geraniacearum mera §). 

 IMPATIENS. Linn. 



I. macrochila; annua, erecta, succulenta, foliis glabris alternis ovato lanceo- 

 latis serratis, petiolo brevi glanduloso, floribus terminalibus umbellatis, 

 sepalo dorsali ovato acuminato apice recurve, calcare brevi clavato in- 

 flexQ, petalorum laminae lobo altero maximo ovato-lanceolato deflexo, 

 fructu brevi obovato apiculato. 



This fine species of Balsam was, last year, introduced by the Hon. 

 Court of Directors of the East India Company, and flowered abun- 

 dantly in the garden of the Horticultural Society during the whole of 

 the autumn. It is a native of the North of India, grows eight or ten 

 feet high, and appears to be quite as hardy as any of our annuals, 

 provided it is not exposed to frost. 



Much discussion has taken place within a few years among Bota- 

 nists as to the real nature of the parts which constitute the very irre- 

 gular flower of a Balsam. According to Riiper and others the two 

 membranous external scales, and the spur, alone belong to the calyx, 

 of which the two other sepals are usually deficient on that side of the 

 flower which is opposite the spur ; on the other hand the corolla con- 

 sists of the large upper or back-piece, and of the two lateral inner 

 wings, each of which last consists of two petals ; and this view has 

 been adopted by me in the Natural System of Botany, p. 138. 



On the other hand, Achille Richard considers the two smaller 

 exterior scales, together with the spurred and the back interior pieces, 

 as forming a four-leaved calyx, while he regards the two innermost 

 lobed pieces as two pairs of petals of a four-leaved corolla. 



A third view is that of Bernhardi, who regards the exterior scales 

 as bracts, the calyx as consisting of five parts, of which three only, 

 namely, the spur and the back piece which is double, are present, and 

 the others rudimentary or missing; while the corolla also consists of 

 five parts, of which the four lower are united in pairs into the two 

 innermost lobed pieces, and the fifth is either separate, as in Hydro- 

 cera, or consolidated with the two back united sepals into what he 

 calls a petal-sepal. 



A fourth view is that of Kunth, who considers the large back 

 piece of the flower to be composed of two sepals, and together with 

 the spur and exterior scales to form a five-leaved calyx ; while he finds 

 in the two innermost parts a corolla of four petals united in pairs, 

 and he assumes the fifth petal to be abortive. This opinion has been 

 adopted by Arnott in 1833, and by Presl in 1836, the latter having 



* So called from the impatience of the irritable fruit, which when ripe 

 bursts with elasticity upon the slightest touch, whence the name of Noli 

 tangere, or Touch me not. 



