PENTANDRIA— MONOGYNIA. Impatiens. 299 



into a curved spur. Filam. from the receptacle, very 

 short, incurved, narrower tovv'ards the base. Anth. com- 

 bined at the base. Germ, superior, of 5 cells, ovate, 

 pointed. Sfi/le none. Stigvia simple, shorter than the 

 anthers. Caps, ovate-oblong, of 5 cells, and 5 linear 

 valves, separating elastically, and curved spirally inwards. 

 Seeds several, oval, attached to a membranous-bordered 

 central column. 

 Annual herbs, with a bi-anched, very succulent, leafy stem. 

 Leaves undivided, serrated. Fl. axillary, stalked, pendu- 

 lous, red or yellow, inodorous, very ornamental. 



1. I. Noli-me-tangere. Yellow Balsam. Touch me 

 not. 



Stalks solitary, many-flowered. Leaves ovate. Joints of 

 the stem swelling. 



I. Noli-me-tangere. Linn. Sp. P/. 1329. Wllld.v.\.\\1Q>. Fl. 

 Br.243. Eugl.Bot.v.\4.t.937. Hook.Scot.76. Fl.Dau. t.532. 



Impatiens. Riv. Tetrap. Irr. t. 121. 



I. n. 557. Hall. Hist. V. 1.239. 



I.herba. Dod. Pempt.<jr>9.f. 



Balsamine lutea, sive Noli me tangere. Ran Syn. 316. 



Balsamina lutea polonica. Barrel. Ic. t. 1197. 



Noli me tangere, Balsamita altera. Column. Ecphr. 149. t. 150. 



Persicaria siliquosa. Ger. Em. 446. f. 



In watery shady places in the North, but rarely. 



In several parts of Westmoreland ; also in Yorkshire, Lancashire, 

 and Wales. Ray. On the banks of Wynandermere, in little 

 brooks, and watery places, near Rydall hall, plentifully. 



Annual. July, August. 



Root fleshy, with numerous, entangled, horizontal fibres. Herb 

 smooth. Stem erect, pellucid, 12 or 18 inches high, very juicy. 

 Leaves alternate, stalked, ovate or elliptical, sharply serrated; 

 the lowermost serratures crowded and elongated. Stipulas none. 

 Fl. large and handsome, yellow, spotted internally with red, 4 

 or .5 together, on branching axillary stalks. Caps, succulent ; 

 when nearly ripe elastic, bursting asunder with the slightest 

 touch, and scattering its seeds. In a dry garden the corolla is 

 often abortive. The leaves wither very soon after gathering ; 

 but I cannot find that they hang down in a flaccid state during 

 the night, as Villars reports, whatever may be the case after a 

 day of southern sunshine, as he saw them in Dauphiny. Dodo- 

 naeus speaks of this as a plant of pernicious qualities : and Ray 

 says it is dangerously diuretic. 



