Also known as spotted touch-me-not, jewelweed is a beautiful gem in wet areas and there's a big patch of it along one of the morning rambles Baloo and I often take. The bright orange of these delicate flowers in the mass of green foliage is such a lovely contrast.
It grows about 2-5 feet tall in the same sort of environment as the dreaded stinging nettle and by the time the nettle has grown enough that it can sting the unwary, the jewelweed plants are big enough to soothe the burning sensation.
The spotted part of the alternate name for this little orchid-like flower (though I just learned it's part of the impatiens family) is pretty clear as to origin, but the touch-me-not part is less obvious. It comes from the tendency of the seed pods to explode when coming in contact with anything. That's a good thing in this case - it means there will be another patch to enjoy next year!
2 comments:
A naturalist friend of mine said to take the leaves and stems and crush/chop them up, add boiling water, then when the water is cool, put into an ice cube tray. These cubes are great for treating poison ivy and poison oak. My daughter gets poison ivy easily, and these seem to help.
That makes perfect sense! Since it soothes stinging nettle, it probably has the same effect on the itching/burning sensation of poison ivy and poison oak. I may have to try that as a poison ivy reliever. Thanks for the info! :)
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