Impatiens balsamina

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Impatiens balsamina
Impatiens balsamina 28 08 2009.JPG
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Ericales
Family: Balsaminaceae
Genus: Impatiens
Species:
I. balsamina
Binomial name
Impatiens balsamina
L.
Fruits Seed pod fung sin.jpg
Fruits

Impatiens balsamina, commonly known as balsam, garden balsam, rose balsam, touch-me-not [1] or spotted snapweed, [2] is a species of plant native to India and Myanmar. [1]

Contents

It is an annual plant growing to 20–75 cm tall, with a thick, but soft stem. The leaves are spirally-arranged, 2.5–9 cm long and 1–2.5 cm broad, with a deeply toothed margin. The flowers are pink, red, mauve, purple, lilac, or white, and 2.5–5 cm diameter; they are pollinated by bees and other insects, and also by nectar-feeding birds. [3] The ripe seed capsules undergo explosive dehiscence. [4]

Human use

Different parts of the plant are used as traditional remedies for disease and skin afflictions. Juice from the leaves is used to treat warts and snakebite, and the flower is applied to burns. [5] This species has been used as indigenous traditional medicine in Asia for rheumatism, fractures, and other ailments. [6] In Korean folk medicine, this impatiens species is used as a medicine called bongseonhwa dae (봉선화대) for the treatment of constipation and gastritis. [7] Chinese people used the plant to treat those bitten by snakes or who ingested poisonous fish. [8] Juice from the stalk, pulverised dried stalks, and pastes from the flowers were also used to treat a variety of ailments. [8] Vietnamese wash their hair with an extract of the plant to stimulate hair growth. [8] One in vitro study found extracts of this impatiens species, especially of the seed pod, to be active against antibiotic-resistant strains of Helicobacter pylori . [6] It is also an inhibitor of 5α-reductases, enzymes that converts testosterone to dihydrotestosterone (active form of testosterone), thus reducing action of testosterone in our body. [9]

In Nepal, the balsam leaves are crushed to dye fingernails on the day of Shrawan Sakranti (Shrawan 1). The day is also observed as Luto Faalne Deen (Go Away-Itch Day). Similarly, in China and Korea, the flowers are crushed and mixed with alum to produce an orange dye that can be used to dye fingernails. Unlike common nail varnish, the dye is semi-permanent, requiring dyed nails to grow off over time in order to remove any traces of color. [10] [11]

Chemistry

The naphthoquinones lawsone, or hennotannic acid, and lawsone methyl ether and methylene-3,3'-bilawsone are some of the active compounds in I. balsamina leaves. [12] It also contains kaempferol and several derivatives. [13] Baccharane glycosides have been found in Chinese herbal remedies made from the seeds. [14]

Ecology

It is widely cultivated as an ornamental plant, and has become naturalised and invasive on several Pacific Ocean islands. [4]

Balsam flowers are referenced in the Okinawan folk song Tinsagu Nu Hana , where the way children use them to color their nails is compared to how parents color (teach and guide) the minds of their children.

The Japanese vocaloid song Housenka (鳳仙花, which translates to Impatiens Balsamina) describes a person who doesn't fit in with a social group despite wanting to. [15] In the music video, the singer laments this fate and compares herself to the plant. She references its "touch-me-not" nickname and the Hedgehog's Dilemma-esque explosive dehiscence of its seeds by saying:

"Don't touch me," the balsam [says], fallen silent. And yet it can't leave seeds unless it breaks from its shell. [15]

Related Research Articles

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Apocynaceae is a family of flowering plants that includes trees, shrubs, herbs, stem succulents, and vines, commonly known as the dogbane family, because some taxa were used as dog poison. Members of the family are native to the European, Asian, African, Australian, and American tropics or subtropics, with some temperate members. The former family Asclepiadaceae is considered a subfamily of Apocynaceae and contains 348 genera. A list of Apocynaceae genera may be found here.

<i>Impatiens</i> Genus of flowering plants

Impatiens is a genus of more than 1,000 species of flowering plants, widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere and the tropics. Together with the genus Hydrocera, Impatiens make up the family Balsaminaceae.

<i>Lonicera japonica</i> Flowering shrub known as Japanese honeysuckle

Lonicera japonica, known as Japanese honeysuckle and golden-and-silver honeysuckle, is a species of honeysuckle native to eastern Asia, including many parts of China. It is often grown as an ornamental plant, but has become an invasive species in a number of countries. Japanese honeysuckle is used in traditional Chinese medicine.

<i>Impatiens walleriana</i> Species of flowering plant

Impatiens walleriana, also known as busy Lizzie, balsam, sultana, or simply impatiens, is a species of the genus Impatiens, native to eastern Africa from Kenya to Mozambique. The Latin specific epithet walleriana honours a British missionary, Horace Waller (1833–1896).

<i>Impatiens glandulifera</i> Species of plant

Impatiens glandulifera, Himalayan balsam, is a large annual plant native to the Himalayas. Via human introduction it is now present across much of the Northern Hemisphere and is considered an invasive species in many areas. Uprooting or cutting the plants is an effective means of control.

<i>Phellodendron amurense</i> Species of tree

Phellodendron amurense is a species of tree in the family Rutaceae, commonly called the Amur cork tree. It is a major source of huáng bò, one of the 50 fundamental herbs used in traditional Chinese medicine. The Ainu people used this plant, called shikerebe-ni, as a painkiller. It is known as hwangbyeok in Korean and (キハダ) kihada in Japanese.

<i>Impatiens capensis</i> Species of flowering plant

Impatiens capensis, the orange jewelweed, common jewelweed, spotted jewelweed, jewelweed, spotted touch-me-not, or orange balsam, is an annual plant in the family Balsaminaceae that is native to North America. It is common in bottomland soils, ditches, and along creeks, often growing side by side with its less common relative, yellow jewelweed.

<i>Momordica balsamina</i> Species of flowering plant

Momordica balsamina is a tendril-bearing annual vine native to the tropical regions of Africa, introduced and invasive in Asia, Australia, Central America, and North America, where they have been found in some parts of Florida. In 1810, Thomas Jefferson planted this vine in his flower borders at Monticello along with larkspur, poppies, and nutmeg.

<i>Agrimonia eupatoria</i> Species of plant

Agrimonia eupatoria is a species of agrimony that is often referred to as common agrimony, church steeples or sticklewort.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lawsone</span> Chemical compound

Lawsone (2-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone), also known as hennotannic acid, is a red-orange dye present in the leaves of the henna plant, for which it is named, as well as in the common walnut and water hyacinth. Humans have used henna extracts containing lawsone as hair and skin dyes for more than 5,000 years. Lawsone reacts chemically with the protein keratin in skin and hair via a Michael addition reaction, resulting in a strong permanent stain that lasts until the skin or hair is shed. Darker colored staining is due to more lawsone–keratin interactions occurring, which evidently break down as the concentration of lawsone decreases and the tattoo fades. Lawsone strongly absorbs UV light, and aqueous extracts can be effective sunless tanning agents and sunscreens. Lawsone is a 1,4-naphthoquinone derivative, an analog of hydroxyquinone containing one additional ring.

<i>Impatiens repens</i> Species of flowering plant

Impatiens repens, the Ceylon balsam, yellow impatiens, or creeping balsam, is a species of flowering plant in the family Balsaminaceae, from Sri Lanka. As the Latin name repens indicates, it is a low-growing plant with a creeping habit. This evergreen perennial can be found in wet-zone rain forests. Growing to 50 cm (20 in) tall and broad, it has small kidney-shaped leaves borne on red stems, and hooded yellow flowers in summer and autumn. It can be seen cultivated in gardens as an ornamental plant. In temperate zones it must be protected from temperatures below 10 °C (50 °F), so must be grown under glass during the winter months, It requires a sheltered position in partial shade.

<i>Barringtonia acutangula</i> Species of plant

Barringtonia acutangula is a species of Barringtonia native to coastal wetlands in southern Asia and northern Australasia, from Afghanistan east to the Philippines, Queensland and the Northern Territory. Common names include freshwater mangrove, itchytree and mango-pine.

<i>Impatiens balfourii</i> Species of orchid

Impatiens balfourii is a species of the genus Impatiens known by the common names Balfour's touch-me-not, Kashmir balsam, and poor man's orchid. It belongs to the family Balsaminaceae.

<i>Terminalia macroptera</i> Species of flowering plant

Terminalia macroptera is a species of flowering plant in the Combretaceae known by the Hausa common name kwandari. It is native to Africa, where it can be found in Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Senegal, Sudan, Uganda, and Nigeria.

<i>Impatiens sodenii</i> Species of flowering plant

Impatiens sodenii is a species of flowering plant in the family Balsaminaceae known by the common names poor man's rhododendron, Oliver's touch-me-not, and shrub balsam. It is native to Kenya and Tanzania, and widely cultivated as an ornamental plant.

<i>Echinops echinatus</i> Species of flowering plant

Echinops echinatus, the Indian globe thistle, commonly known as Usnakantaka, is a species of globe thistle, found in India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Indian globe thistle is an erect branched herb about 100 cm high. It has short, stout stems, branching from the base, covered with white cottony hair. Alternately arranged oblong, deeply pinnatifid leaves are 7–12 cm long. Flower heads occur in solitary white spherical balls, 3–5 cm across. Petals of the tiny white disc florets are 5 mm long. Flowers are surrounded by straight, strong, white bristles. Often misidentified with Silybum marianum (L.) Gaertner, it is colloquially known as Camel's thistle.

<i>Larrea divaricata</i> Species of flowering plant

Larrea divaricata, commonly known as chaparral, is a small evergreen bush in the family Zygophyllaceae. It is native to arid regions of South America, where it is known as jarilla or jarillo. It was first described in 1800 by the Spanish botanist Antonio José Cavanilles.

<i>Impatiens tinctoria</i> Species of flowering plant

Impatiens tinctoria, the dyers busy lizzie, is a species of flowering plant in the balsam family Balsaminaceae, native to tropical Africa.

<i>Impatiens scapiflora</i> Species of plant

Impatiens scapiflora is a species of flowering plant in the family Balsaminaceae. Impatiens scapiflora or Leafless-Stem Balsam is a terrestrial or epiphytic or lithophytic herb endemic to Western Ghats.

References

  1. 1 2 "Impatiens balsamina". Germplasm Resources Information Network . Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture . Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  2. ↑ USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Impatiens balsamina". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  3. ↑ Huxley, A., ed. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. Macmillan ISBN   0-333-47494-5.
  4. 1 2 Impatiens balsamina. Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk (PIER).
  5. ↑ Plants for a Future: Impatiens balsamina
  6. 1 2 Wang YC, Wu DC, Liao JJ, Wu CH, Li WY, Weng BC (2009). "In vitro activity of Impatiens balsamina L. against multiple antibiotic-resistant Helicobacter pylori". Am. J. Chin. Med. 37 (4): 713–22. doi:10.1142/S0192415X09007181. PMID   19655409.
  7. ↑ Park JH, Kim JM, Do WI (2003). "Pharmacognostical studies on the folk medicine bong seon wha dae". Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy. 34 (3): 193–96.
  8. 1 2 3 Christopher Cumo. "Impatiens". Encyclopedia of Cultivated Plants: From Acacia to Zinnia. Christopher Cumo, ed. ABC-CLIO, 2013. p. 523. ISBN   9781598847758
  9. ↑ Ishiguro K, Oku H, Kato T (February 2000). "Testosterone 5α-reductase inhibitor bisnaphthoquinone derivative from Impatiens balsamina". Phytother Res. 14 (1): 54–6. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1099-1573(200002)14:1<54::AID-PTR540>3.0.CO;2-Q. PMID   10641051. S2CID   84734429.
  10. ↑ "Naturally dyed red nails". JoongAng Daily . 12 September 2004. Retrieved 29 August 2010.
  11. ↑ "Summer, the Way It Used to Be..." The Korea Times . 16 June 2008. Archived from the original on 16 June 2008. Retrieved 29 August 2010.
  12. ↑ Sakunphueak A, Panichayupakaranant P (2010). "Simultaneous determination of three naphthoquinones in the leaves of Impatiens balsamina L. by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography". Phytochem Anal. 21 (5): 444–50. doi:10.1002/pca.1216. PMID   20931623.
  13. ↑ Hua L, Peng Z, Chia LS, Goh NK, Tan SN (February 2001). "Separation of kaempferols in Impatiens balsamina flowers by capillary electrophoresis with electrochemical detection". J Chromatogr A. 909 (2): 297–303. doi:10.1016/S0021-9673(00)01102-X. PMID   11269529.
  14. ↑ Li HJ, Yu JJ, Li P (March 2011). "Simultaneous qualification and quantification of baccharane glycosides in Impatientis Semen by HPLC–ESI-MSD and HPLC–ELSD". J Pharm Biomed Anal. 54 (4): 674–80. doi:10.1016/j.jpba.2010.10.014. PMID   21075577.
  15. 1 2 【Yuzuki Yukari】Balsam【Original】 (in Japanese), 2013-07-31, retrieved 2022-05-30
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