Impatiens hawkeri
W. Bull
New Guinea impatiens
(c) David Gil, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by David Gil
(c) AnnLazaro, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), uploaded by AnnLazaro
(c) f-delgado, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
Where to Find It
It is a tropical plant.
Pacific, Papua New Guinea, PNG, Solomon Islands,
How to Identify
A herb that keeps growing from year to year. It can be erect or lie along the ground. It can grow 50-100 cm tall. This plant varies a lot,
How to Grow
Requires some protection from the hottest sun. Prefers a deep, cool, moist, humus-rich soil. Plants can flower and produce seed all year round. A very variable species: in addition to the numerous cultivars, 15 groups are recognized in the wild forms, which are differentiated mainly by geographical region, flower colour and leaf-form.
Medicinal Uses
The whole plant is cooked and eaten by children with stomach-ache. Combined with the leaves of Plectranthus scutellarioides, the leaves are rubbed on the stomach of pregnant women to help relieve labour pains.
Wikipedia
Source ↗Impatiens hawkeri, the New Guinea impatiens, is a species of flowering plant in the family Balsaminaceae. It is native to Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. It has been bred and hybridized in cultivation to produce a line of garden plants.
References (1)
- World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
