Impatiens walleriana Hook. f.

Garden Impatiens; Busy Lizzy; Sultana

Herb

Annual

Vascular

Sultana is an introduced herbaceous plant in the Touch-Me-Not family (Balsaminaceae). It is native to eastern Africa from Kenya to Mozambique. It is a common garden plant, and has been collected once as an escape in Alabama. Sultana can be found in trash dumps or near plantings. It is a frost tender perennial grown as an annual in Alabama. Stems are green, glabrous, and succulent. Plants are branched and from 1-2 feet in height. The leaves are alternate, petiolate, ovate to elliptic in outline, serrate, and glabrous. Flowers are in pedunculate clusters of 1-3 from the leaf axils. Each flower has 3 sepals, the middle one forming a short spur. There are 5 petals in various shades of pink, rose, red, lilac, purple, orange, white, or bi-colored. The flowers are relatively flat in appearance. The fruit is a capsule that is explosively dehiscent. Sultana, also known as Garden Impatiens or Busy Lizzy, is the most common garden plant in America. It is easily grown from seed or cuttings, flowers all summer, and thrives in shade. Double flowered forms and sun tolerant types are available. It prefers a moist, organically rich soil in full or partial shade. It can be used in beds or containers.--A. Diamond

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Not Native

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