Himalayan Balsam (Impatiens glandulifera)

Introduction

The photograph on this page of Himalayan Balsam (Impatiens glandulifera) by Natasha Ceridwen de Chroustchoff as part of the Geograph project.

The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.

There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk

Himalayan Balsam (Impatiens glandulifera)

Image: © Natasha Ceridwen de Chroustchoff Taken: 18 Jul 2007

A large succulent annual introduced in 1839 to Kew Gardens as a greenhouse plant, it escaped to the wild and is now naturalised. It is very invasive and should be removed when found. It grows up to 2 metres high and prefers moist areas, usually along river banks, as here, but it colonises many other areas. Dense stands suffocate other plants so when it dies away in the winter, river banks are left bare and more liable to erosion. Its seeds are dispersed expulsively up to 2 metres away and are readily carried by water to start to new colonies. In itself it is a beautiful plant, described by the poet Ann Stevenson thus: "Orchid-lipped, loose-jointed, purplish, indolent flowers, with a ripe smell of peaches, like a girl's breath through lipstick."

Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0

Image Location

coordinates on a map icon
Latitude
52.002088
Longitude
-4.749833