Impatiens capensis Meerb.

Glabrous annual, 5–15 dm, branched above; lvs soft, pale or glaucous beneath, ovate or elliptic, 3–10 cm, crenate-serrate with mucronate teeth, on long wingless petioles; racemes widely spreading, few-fld; fls drooping on slender pedicels, 2–3 cm, commonly orange-yellow, thickly spotted with reddish-brown, rarely lemon-yellow or white, or without spots; saccate sep conic, the slender spur 7–10 mm, curved forward close to the body; capsules 2 cm, dehiscing explosively when jarred; 2n=20. Moist woods, brooksides, wet roadside ditches, and springy places; Nf. and Que. to Sask., s. to S.C., Ala., and Okla. June–Sept. (I. biflora; I. nortonii)

It is a temperate plant. It grows in shady places in poplar woods. It is best in moist places.

The leaves and stems are boiled and eaten. The very young succulent stems are cut up and cooked like green beans. They are served with cream sauce. Caution: It can contain oxalates.

Plants can be grown by seeds.