| Classification |
| Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order Type: Eudicots-Basal Asterids
Order: Ericales
Family: Balsaminaceae
Family Common Name: Balsam Family
Genera: Impatiens |
Defining Features: Fruits
(capsules) are elastically and explosively dehiscent.
Defining Morphology: Floral
Features: Flowers are bisexual, zygomorphic (bilabiate), axillary, terminal
or solitary and held upside-down. Dorsal sepal large, petaloid, and has
a curved nectariferous spur. Ovaries are superior. Fruit and Seed Features:
Dicotyledon. Fruit is often a capsule with 5-valved. Fruits are explosively
dehiscent. Vegetative Features: Habit as fleshy herbs, subshrubs with translucent
stems and often with swollen at nodes. Leaves are simple, alternate, opposite
or whorled and estipulate. Hydathodes commonly present.
Distribution: Mostly distributed
in tropics and subtropics of Africa and Asia.
Economic Use: As cultivated
garden and indoor ornamentals.
Number of Genera Globally: 2
Genera Planted in Garden:
1
Number of Species Globally: 850
