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Impatiens walleriana

Hook.f. (1868)

This name is accepted

Kingdom: Viridiplantae Phylum: Magnoliophyta Class/Clade: Eudicot-Asterids Order: Ericales Family: Balsaminaceae Genus: Impatiens

busy lizzy, impatiens, patient lucy, snapweed

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Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Succulent perennial herbs 0.3–1 m tall; flat–topped.

Stems:

Roots:

Leaves: Leaves simple. Alternate or the uppermost sometimes opposite. Blades lanceolate or ovate to elliptic–oblong, 3–10 cm long. Surfaces usually glabrous, often greenish or reddish green on both surfaces. Margins crenate–denticulate. Petioles 1.5-6 cm, with 1 or 2, rarely few, stipitate glands. Stipules absent or consisting of a pair of petiolar glands.

Flowers: Flowers solitary or in axillary or terminal racemes. Flowers bisexual (perfect), strongly irregular. The spur usually 2.5–3.2 cm long. Calyx of 3 sepals, rarely 5, the upper 2 small and usually green, the lower one petaloid, asymmetrically funnelform, usually with a long nectariferous spur. Corolla of 5 petals; petals red, reddish orange, pink, purple, white, or variegated. Stamens 5, connate into a short tube: filaments flat, connate above; anthers dithecal, introrse, short, connate or coherent, forming a cap over the ovary, the sporogenous tissue divided into packets by a transverse partition. Ovary superior, 5-celled; placentation axile; ovules several to many per cell, pendulous and apotropous or anatropous; style 1, short; stigma 1 or 5.

Fruit: Capsules explosively dehiscent; loculicidal; the valves rubbery and becoming twisted in dehiscence. Seeds with endosperm scanty.

Ploidy: 2n = 17

Habitat: naturalized in relatively moist; often shaded sites.

Elevation Range:

Historical Distribution

Images

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Uses and Culture

USES

Natural History

Statewide Status

Naturalized

Island Status

Kaua'i Naturalized
O'ahu Naturalized
Molokai Naturalized
Lana'i Not in flora
Maui Naturalized
Hawai'i Naturalized

Dispersal Agents

Wind

Pollinators

Notes

  • 1939 on Oahu
  • Description digitized by Pumehana
  • Description digitized from the Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawaii
  • succulent; Native from Tanzania to Mozambique, commonly cultivated with many cultivars having been developed

Bibliography

Name Published In: D.Oliver & auct. suc. (eds.), Fl. Trop. Afr. 1: 302 (1868)

Other References

Wagner et al. 1990:380 (K, O, Mo, L, M, H [as I. wallerana]); Staples & Herbst 2005:172 (KEY, DESCR); Faccenda, Arthur, et al. 2025:163 (remove L [no evidence of nat.]); IPNI 2025 (spelling change to walleriana)

Occurrences

SNo. Scientific Name Locality Habitat Basis of Record Recorded By Record Number Island Source Date
1 Impatiens walleriana Koloa District: Kalaheo. Near end of Puuwai Road below Meideros chicken farm Naturalized plants. (Appears to be naturalized from garden clippings.) Preserved_Specimen Flynn, T.W. 1945 Kauai BISH 1986-11-17
2 Impatiens walleriana Windward Koolau Mountains, Waiahole Valley, near water tunnel entering Uwau Stream Growing in streambed in dense shade. Preserved_Specimen Wagner, W.L. 5500 Oahu BISH 1984-12-02
3 Impatiens walleriana BYU-HC Soil=loamy. Partially sunny; numerous. Preserved_Specimen Loyd, L. 16 Oahu BISH 1977-03-07
4 Impatiens walleriana Laie, Mormon Temple Soil = loam. Preserved_Specimen Lee, P. 12 Oahu BISH 1975-03-02
5 Impatiens walleriana Kanealole Trail just below where trail becomes Na Ala Hele Trail. West bank of the Kanealole Stream. In grassy streamlet along hiking trail. With Arthrostemma ciliatum, Musca sp., Begonia, Citharexylum, Xanthosoma, Christella parasitica, an introduced Erythrina tree, and Cissus verticillata. Preserved_Specimen Walvoord, N. 2022034 Oahu BISH 2022-12-10
6 Impatiens walleriana Hauula Slope=flat; Soil=loam. Scattered. Grows only where planted. Preserved_Specimen Hai, N. 15 Oahu BISH 1975-04-02
7 Impatiens walleriana Foster Botanic Garden In dappled shade underneath a tree; growing as a volunteer. Preserved_Specimen Lau, J. 1589 Oahu BISH 1985-11-04
8 Impatiens walleriana Waimea Audubon Center, Waimea Valley, Oahu, Hawaii Growing in drainage area, very wet, with taro. Preserved_Specimen Crago, L.M. 2005201 Oahu BISH 2005-10-18
9 Impatiens walleriana Laie, BYU-HC Soil=Kaolite clay w/sand layer underneath. Ornamental. Preserved_Specimen Lee, J. 8 Oahu BISH 1981-11-09
10 Impatiens walleriana Honolulu, the residence of Betty Ho, 3785 Old Pali Rd Bedded in partial shade. Preserved_Specimen Lau, J. 2265 Oahu BISH 1986-04-21
11 Impatiens walleriana Koloa District: Kalaheo. Yard of house on Kaloke Street Ornamental and spontaneous locally. Preserved_Specimen Lorence, D.H. 6395 Kauai BISH 1989-11-05
12 Impatiens walleriana Ranae Ganske Property, Wailuku, Maui, Hawaii Growing at water tank overflow area, very wet. Preserved_Specimen Crago, L.M. 2005192 Maui BISH 2005-08-11
13 Impatiens walleriana Koolaupoko distr., Waimanalo, Kakaina St. Shaded understory along stream, growing on banks in deep shade on moist red clay soil. Preserved_Specimen Staples, G.W. 1225 Oahu BISH 2005-02-17
14 Impatiens walleriana Laie, BYU-HC Soil=kaloiad clay. Grassland. Temperate and tropical. Preserved_Specimen Wong, A. Oahu BISH 1980-10-18
15 Impatiens walleriana BYU-HC Slope=0 degrees, Soil=silty loam. Common ornamental. Preserved_Specimen Afualo, D. 99 Oahu BISH 1975-03-21
16 Impatiens walleriana Honolulu, 42 Coelho Way Preserved_Specimen Neal, M.C. Oahu BISH 1939-08-15
17 Impatiens walleriana Honolulu; Harrison area. By old stable site semi-shady, wet. Preserved_Specimen Baker, R.F. 87 Oahu BISH 1975-04-25
18 Impatiens walleriana East Maui, Pua o Entabeni, HC 1 370 Hana Hwy, Haiku Preserved_Specimen Annable, C.R. 3158 Maui BISH 1996-11-23
19 Impatiens walleriana H.L.Lyon Arboretum Preserved_Specimen Herbst, D.R. 5651 Oahu BISH 1976-02-16
20 Impatiens walleriana Kokee, Berry Flat trail, near start of trail off Mohihi road Acacia koa - Metrosideros mesic forest With Xylosma hawaiiense, Elaeocarpus bifidus, Melicope clusiifolia, Coprosma waimeae, Psychotria mariniana, Ilex anomala, Cheirodendron, Melicope anisata, Dodonaea viscosa, Rubus argutus Preserved_Specimen Perlman, S. 22469 Kauai BISH 2011-03-15
21 Impatiens walleriana Honolulu: Harrison Area; by old stable site Semi-shady, wet. Preserved_Specimen Baker, R.F. 87 Oahu BISH 1975-04-25
22 Impatiens walleriana Wahiawa, 1576 Glen Ave Common in gardens. Soil=red clay. Preserved_Specimen Elia, H.V.K. 42 Oahu BISH 1971-04-12
23 Impatiens walleriana East Maui, Kaapahu along Donkey Trail along Alalele stream. Preserved_Specimen Welton, P. 2335 Maui BISH 2013-01-10
24 Impatiens walleriana Kilauea, Hawaii National Park, Park residence area Preserved_Specimen Fagerlund, G.O. 120 Hawaii BISH 1942-11-02
25 Impatiens walleriana Kokee, Plew garden Preserved_Specimen Plews, J.H.R. Kauai BISH 1986-10-23
26 Impatiens walleriana H.L.Lyon Arboretum Preserved_Specimen Herbst, D.R. 5649 Oahu BISH 1976-02-16
27 Impatiens walleriana H.L.Lyon Arboretum Preserved_Specimen Herbst, D.R. 5650 Oahu BISH 1976-02-16
28 Impatiens walleriana H.L.Lyon Arboretum Preserved_Specimen Herbst, D.R. 5652 Oahu BISH 1976-02-16
29 Impatiens walleriana H.L.Lyon Arboretum Volunteer. Preserved_Specimen Ishikawa, S. 123 Oahu BISH 1972-07-17
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