CLASS V. ORDKR I.] IMPATIEIfS. 313 



GENUS XXXVII. IMPA.TIENS LINN. Balsam. 



Nat. Ord. BALSAM'INE/E. A. RICHARD. 



GEN. CHAR. Calyx of two deciduous segments. Petals four, very 

 unequal, the lower one elongated at the base into a spur. Anthers 

 united, three of which are two celled, and two one celled. Stigma 

 five, united. Capsule long, .tapering, of five elastic valves, burst- 

 ing suddenly at the base, and rolling spirally. Name (impatient) 

 from the circumstance of the valves suddenly flying open when 

 touched. 



1. /. Noli-me-tan'gere, Linn. (Fig. 383.) yellow Balsam, or Touch- 

 me-not. Peduncles solitary, axillary, many flowered, shorter than 

 the leaves, and spreading beneath them ; spur of the flower recurred 

 at the apex ; leaves ovate, petiolated, coarsely serrated ; stem swelling 

 at the joint. 



English Botany, t. 937. English Flora, vol. i. p. 299. Hooker, 

 British Flora, vol. i. p. 120. Lindley, Synopsis, p. 60. 



Root fleshy, with numerous spreading fibres from the joints. Stem 

 erect, from one to three feet high, round, smooth, pellucid, very 

 succulent, swollen at the joints, quite smooth, like all the rest of the 

 plant, of a pale yellowish green, except about the joints, where it is 

 pinkish, branched, opposite, or mostly alternate. Leaves opposite or 

 alternate, on footstalks of variable lengths, ovate or ovate oblong, 

 sometimes tapering at the base, of a bright green, glaucous, and paler 

 beneath, the margin coarsely serrated, some of the lower ones mostly 

 lengthened into cilise, mid-rib strong, lateral ones very slender. 

 Peduncles slender from the axis of the leaves, solitary, branched, 

 shorter than the leaves, bearing from three to six pendulous flowers, 

 each partial flower stalk with one or two small awl-shaped bractea, 

 Flowers large, pale yellow, spotted with scarlet, very handsome. 

 Calyx of two ovate-lanceolate pellucid segments, having a mid-rib, 

 soon falling away after the flower has expanded. Corolla very irre- 

 gular, of four petals, the upper one erect, flat, somewhat three-cleft, 

 with a point in the middle, forming the upper lip, the lower a long 

 tubular spur or nectary, recurved about one-third from the apex, the 

 mouth obliquely cut, terminating beneath in a point, the upper edge 

 attached to the receptacle, the lateral petals much larger than the 

 others, lobed, each accompanied at its base with a small entire oblong 

 petal, all finely veined. Stamens five, on short curved filaments, 

 thickened and somewhat hairy above. Anthers large, united together 

 when ripe, the three lower ones with two perfect cells, the two upper 

 with one cell only, the valves opening lengthwise. Pollen very 



