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Small Balsam

Small Balsam

Impatiens parviflora

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How common: Common

Invasive alien species

Small Balsam is a small annual with soft, juicy stems and pale yellow, small flowers. Native to Central Asia, it is now widespread in many parts of Europe and Asia, often in shady places. Poisonous.

Did you know?

  • Ripe seed pods burst and shoot seeds several metres away.
  • Its flowers are much smaller and paler than those of the native Yellow Balsam.

About the species

Identification

20–50 cm tall. Stem soft, smooth, usually unbranched. Leaves mostly near the top, thin and oval, with many sharp teeth. Small clusters of 5–10 pale yellow flowers, each 1–1.5 cm, stand upright; there is a narrow straight tube at the back. Seed pods are upright and spring open at a touch, shooting seeds away. Compared with the native Yellow Balsam, it is usually shorter and the flowers are much smaller (1–1.5 cm vs 3–4 cm) and paler. Flowers in Finland from July to September.

Plant group

Herbaceous plants

Habitat

rock, herb-rich forest, yards and roadsides

Toxicity

A poisonous plant – do not taste it. Source: HUS Poison Information Centre (Finland), tel. 0800 147 111.

Flowering

Jul–Sep

About the habitat

Prefers moist, nutrient‑rich, disturbed ground in light shade: parks and gardens, edges of paths, ditch and stream banks, woodland edges, and under shrubs or trees. Mainly in southern and central Finland, common in parks and as a garden escape in rich, shady places such as under shrubs, along paths and under rock faces; spreads also along water and with garden waste.

Sources

Photo: jamie-aa, CC BY 4.0 https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/6185364193

Text: Pinkka: BIO-513 Syventävä putkilokasvituntemus - Hippophaë-Lythrum, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.39157

Text: Pinkka: Vieraslajien tunnistus - Palsamit, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.39157

Text: FinBIF species descriptions, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.39157

Text: Wikipedia (Finnish), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rikkapalsami

See also