Impatiens tricornis

 
  • Family : BALSAMINACEAE
    (Balsam Family)
  • Family (Hindi name) : GUL-MEHNDI FAMILY (गुलमेंहदी फैमिली)
  • Family (as per The APG System III) : Balsaminaceae
  • Synonym(s) : Balsamina tricornis (Lindl.) Ser.; Impatiens praetermissa Hook.f.; Impatiens punctata Wall. ex Hook.f. & Thomson
  • Species Name (as per The IPNI) : Impatiens tricornis Lindl.
  • Common name : Three-Horned Balsam, Scabby Balsam
  • Vernacular name :
    • Areli, Tiuri jhar (Nepali)
  • Habit : Herb
  • Habitat : Forest understories, thickets along riverbanks, shaded moist places
  • Key identification features : Plants annual, 30-50 cm tall, rarely taller. Stem erect, green or purple-tinged basally, many branched, pubescent or subglabrous basally. Leaves alternate, sessile or subsessile; petiole with 2 globose basal glands; leaf blade ovate or ovate-lanceolate, 5-15 × 1.5-2 cm, apices of teeth with marginal glands, abaxially pubescent, adaxially sparsely strigose, lateral veins 7-9 pairs, base subrounded, margin sharply serrate, apex acuminate. Inflorescences in leaf axils, 1-3-flowered, shortly pedunculate; pedicels bracteate at middle; peduncles, pedicels, and bracts brown pubescent; bracts persistent, setose or setose-lanceolate, apex long mucronulate. Flowers golden-yellow, purple spotted, ca. 2.5 cm deep. Lateral sepals 2, ovate, sparsely pubescent, apex mucronulate. Lower sepal broadly funnelform, abruptly narrowed into a curved spur ca. 1 cm. Upper petal broadly orbicular, abaxial midvein green, cornute-cristate, crista conspicuous in flowering buds; lateral united petals not clawed, 2-lobed; basal lobes orbicular, short; distal lobes oblong-dolabriform; auricle inflexed, narrow. Anthers obtuse. Capsule linear, 2.5-3 cm, glabrous or sparsely hairy.
  • Flower, Fruit : July-September
  • Distribution :
    • Uttarakhand : Dehradun district
  • Native : India, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, Tibet, West Himalaya
  • Exotic/Native : Native
  • Literature :
    • Photographs of K. Sankara Rao
  • Read more :
  • Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Deepak Kumar (2024). India Flora Online. http://indiafloraonline-ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Impatiens tricornis. Downloaded on 2 December 2024.

Field Image(s)

India Distribution

World Distribution

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