I thought this was an impatiens first but then had my doubts. About 2-3' (60-90cm) high, and has those weird bulbous, thickened bits on the stem bases.
Growing in semi-shade in a flower bed in Paris, flowering still.
Thanks!
That's it alright. I've never seen this variety before. I always thought Himalayan balsam was the one growing wild and very tall, with the 'jumpy' seed pods.
It is an impatiens, but Himalayan Balsam (Impatiens glandulifera) has a different structure for presenting the flowers. Flowers don't cluster next to the central stem, and they are always terminal (at the end of a stem, although stems can be shorter or longer). Once an individual stem produces flowers, that individual stem does not grow anymore. Even skopjecollection's entry in the data base here shows it is not the same:
The bulbous thickening of the stem is interesting, and I've never seen it on any impatiens I've grown:
I. glandulifera
I. namcharbarwensis
I. bicolor
I. balfourii
When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the losers. - Socrates
definitely impatiens balsamina - though when I looked up I. glandulifera there were some photos that matched my posted plant, which made me this that was it. Seems to be a fair bit of confusion and misinformation on the net
All cleared up now - thanks everybody!
Also, very often, the pics google brings up are not what you searched for. Some are confused, but most, if you click on the pic and go to it original source, you'll find the author is not claiming what google leads you to believe.
When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the losers. - Socrates
