TOUCH-ME-NOT. 



Impatiens Noli-me-tangere. Nat. Ord., 

 Balsaminacete. 



HOUGH some of our greater and 

 later authorities have decided 

 that the touch-me-not has little 

 or no claim to be considered an 

 indigenous species, it may very 

 fairly, we think, claim a place 

 in our series. A plant that 

 has naturalised itself for many 

 years so many that Gerarde, 

 unhesitatingly accepts it as a 

 native, and Hill, writing more 

 than a hundred years ago, says 

 distinctly that it is a British 

 plant may very legitimately 

 engage our attention. The 



touch-me-not is called locally the quick-in-hand in some 

 districts, while in France it is the impatiente-n'y- 

 touehez-pas; and all these names, as we shall see presently, 

 are very appropriately bestowed on the plant. Touch-me- 

 not is an erect and branching plant, reaching a height of 

 some two feet. Its stems are perfectly smooth, rather 

 succulent, as the stems of most plants are that thrive in 

 damp situations, and swollen at the joints. The leaves 

 of the touch-me-not are very simple in form, what 



