Spotted Jewelweed

Description:

The flowers are orange with a three-lobed corolla; one of the calyx lobes is colored similarly to the corolla and forms a hooked conical spur at the back of the flower. Plants may also produce non-showy cleistogamous flowers, which do not require cross-pollination. The stems are somewhat translucent, succulent, and have swollen or darkened nodes. The seed pods are pendant and have projectile seeds that explode out of the pods when they are lightly touched, if ripe, which is where the name 'touch-me-not' comes from. The leaves appear to be silver or 'jeweled' when held underwater, which is possibly where the jewelweed name comes from.

Habitat:

It is native to North America and is common in bottomland soils, ditches, and along creeks. This one was observed in a wet ditch at Brick Pond Park in North Augusta (Aiken County), SC.

Notes:

It is also called orange jewelweed, common jewelweed, spotted jewelweed, spotted touch-me-not, or orange balsam. Along with other species of jewelweed it is a traditional remedy for skin rashes, although controlled studies have not shown efficacy for this purpose.