Jewelweed Totally Explained

Everything about Jewelweed totally explained

Jewelweed is a North American common name for a number of species of flowering plant in the genus Impatiens, family Balsaminaceae, native to eastern North America. They typically grow about 1 to 1.5 m tall, and die after one season. Like other Impatiens, jewelweed is notable for having seed pods that burst when touched, spreading seeds over several square meters. Because of this, it also has the common name (shared with many other Impatiens species) of Touch-me-not. Jewelweed is often used as a home remedy to treat poison ivy rashes, but has been shown not to have any anti-itch properties in several controlled studies.

Species

Species called jewelweed include:

Impatiens capensis Meerb. — Spotted Jewelweed or Orange Jewelweed; orange flowers
Impatiens pallida Nutt. — Pale Jewelweed or Yellow Jewelweed; yellow (rarely cream-colored) flowers.

These species grow in moist, rich soils in valleys and stream-bottoms. Pale jewelweed tends to grow slightly taller and to tolerate somewhat shadier sites than orange jewelweed, while the latter is more common and better able to grow in disturbed areas.
An oft-repeated folk saying, "Wherever poison ivy is found, jewelweed grows close by," isn't true. Poison ivy grows in a wide variety of habitats, while jewelweed is restricted to moist bottomlands and valleys with rich soil. The reverse is often true: wherever jewelweed is found, poison ivy is usually close by. Jewelweed grows in sunny, wet areas, such as roadside ditches and fens. The 1 cm (½ inch) long flowers are shaped like a shoe. Some plants have orange flowers with dark spots, while others have plain yellow flowers. When held under water, the leaves appear silvery in color (most noticeably on the underside of the leaf) due to tiny air bubbles trapped across the leaf surface. Also, when water collects on the leaves of the Jewelweed, it tends to clump together because of the smooth texture of the leaves. White light can then be refracted through the prism, thus presenting the the color spectrum, giving it the appearance of a jewel. These two characteristics possibly explain the plant's common name.
In the 19th and 20th centuries, humans transported the Orange Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) to England, France, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Finland, and potentially other areas of Northern and Central Europe. These naturalized populations persist in the absence of any common cultivation by people. The orange jewelweed is quite similar to Impatiens noli-tangere, an Impatiens species native to Europe and Asia. No evidence exists of natural hybrids, although the habitats occupied by the two species are very similar. There are currently no records of pale jewelweed being cultivated outside North America, nor are there documented naturalizations.

Medical use

Jewelweed has been shown to be devoid of any anti-itch activity (antipruritic effect) in several controlled studies, but is still used widely as a home remedy against poison ivy rashes, bee stings, and insect bites
. Jewelweed contains the naphthoquinone lawsone, a dye that's also found in Henna and that's responsible for the permanent hair coloring and skin coloring in mehndi.

Further Information

Get more info on 'Jewelweed'.

External Link Exchanges

Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:

<a href="http://jewelweed.totallyexplained.com">Jewelweed Totally Explained</a>

Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned.