Herb Of The Week - Jewelweed

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From " A Modern Herbal " by Maude Grieve - written in 1931

Volumes I & II are available online at:

http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/mgmh.html

<http://botanical.com/>

 

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Chris (list mom)

 

http://www.alittleolfactory.com

 

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Jewelweed

 

 

Botanical: Impatiens aurea (MUHL.), Impatiens biflora (WALT.)

Family: N.O. Geraniaceae

 

 

* Description

<http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/j/jewelw08.html#des>

* Medicinal

<http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/j/jewelw08.html#med> Action and

Uses

* Constituents

<http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/j/jewelw08.html#con>

* Other

<http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/j/jewelw08.html#oth> Species

 

---Synonyms---Wild Balsam. Balsam-weed. Impatiens pallida.

Pale-touch-me-not. Spottedtouch-me-not. Slipperweed. Silverweed. Wild

Lady's Slipper. Speckled Jewels. Wild Celandine. Quick-in-the-hand.

---Part Used---Herb.

---Habitat---Members of the genus Impatiens are found widely distributed

in the north temperate zone and in South Africa, but the majority are

natives of the mountains of tropical Asia and Africa.

 

 

 

 

_____

 

The flowers, purple, yellow, pink and white, sometimes a showy scarlet,

are spurred and irregular in form and are borne in the leaf axils.

 

The name Impatiens is derived from the fact that the seed-pod, when

ripe, discharges the seeds by the elastic separation and uncoiling of

the valves.

 

Under the name of Jewelweed the herbage of Impatiens aurea and of I.

biflora are largely employed in domestic practice and by homoeopaths and

eclectics.

 

---Description---The plants are tall and branching, tender and delicate

succulent annuals, with swollen joints, growing in lowlying, damp,

rather rich soil, beside streams and in similar damp localities.

 

They are smooth and somewhat glaucous, the stems somewhat translucent,

the foliage showing a brilliant silvery surface when immersed in water,

which will not adhere to the surface.

 

The leaves are thin, ovate oval, more or less toothed, of a tender green

colour.

 

The slipper-shaped, yellow flowers, in bloom from July to September,

have long recurved tails, those of the first-named species being of a

uniform pale-yellow, those of the second species, orange-yellow, crowded

with dark spots, hence its common name of Spotted-touch-me-not. The

oblong capsules of both species when ripe explode under the slightest

disturbance, scattering the seeds widely. Most of the popular names

refer to this peculiarity, others to the shape of the flowers.

 

---Medicinal Action and Uses---The herbs have an acrid, burning taste

and act strongly as emetics, cathartics and diuretics, but are

considered dangerous, their use having been termed 'wholly

questionable.'

 

---Constituents---The chemical constituents are not known, though the

leaves apparently contain tannin, which causes them to be employed as an

outward application for piles, proving an excellent remedy, the freshly

gathered plants being boiled in lard and an ointment made of them.

 

The fresh juice of the herb appears to relieve cutaneous irritation of

various kinds, especially that due to Rhus poisoning.

 

A yellow dye has been made from the flowers.

 

---Other Species---

The only species of Impatiens found wild in Europe is I.

Noli-me-tangere, an annual, succulent herb about a foot high, with

yellow flowers, in bloom in July and August, the lateral petals spotted

with red (by cultivation, changing often to pale yellow and purplish).

 

This is our native 'Touch-me-not' or 'Quick-in-hand.' Although uncommon,

it is to be found wild in moist mountainous districts in North Wales,

Lancashire and Westmorland and occasionally in moist, shady places and

by the banks of rivulets in other counties.

 

The plant will grow in cultivation, delighting in a moist soil and

partially-shaded situations; the seeds being sown in autumn, soon after

they are ripe. When once established, the plant will scatter its own

seeds.

 

The whole plant is rather acrid, so that no animal except the goat will

touch it.

 

It was formerly considered to have diuretic and vulnerary properties and

was given to relieve haemorrhoids and strangury.

 

Boerhaave, the famous Dutch physician (1668-1738), considered it

poisonous.

 

I. balsamina, the Common Balsam of gardens, a well-known annual, is a

native of India, China and Japan. It is one of the showiest of summer

and autumn flowers and of comparatively easy cultivation.

 

In the East, the natives use the prepared juice for dyeing their nails

red.

 

I. Roylei, a tall, hardy, succulent annual, with rose-purple flowers, a

Himalayan species, is common in England as a self-sown garden plant or

garden escape.

 

I. Sultani, a handsome plant, with scarlet flowers, a native of

Zanzibar, is easily grown in a greenhouse throughout the summer, but

requires warmth in winter.

 

I. Cornuta, the 'Horned Balsam,' has long nectaries to its flowers, the

spurs being three times as long as the corollas. In Ceylon it is called

the 'Swallow-leaf.'

 

The whole plant is fragrant and in CochinChina, where it is a common

garden weed, a decoction of the leaves is used as a hairwash, imparting

a very sweet odour.

 

The 'Balsam Apple' is not related to the Impatiens, but is the fruit of

Momordica balsamina.