Yet, one more photograph we can add to our collection of orange flowers. This one is jewelweed, a.k.a. spotted touch-me-not, another hummingbird favorite.
You'll find it growing in the low-lying damp places, often near a pond or stream. Look for it along the Third Creek Greenway in Knoxville.
Along with other species of impatiens, jewelweed is a traditional remedy for skin rashes, including the one caused by poison ivy.
Flowering plants can be traced back in the fossil record roughly 136 million years. And during that time they have managed to come up with hundreds of thousands of shapes, sizes and colors, but, for some reason, very few orange ones. I wonder why?
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So pretty! Why is it called "Touch Me Not"? Particularly since it's a remedy for skin rashes? From the name I would have thought that it caused them.
ReplyDeleteGwen.
ReplyDeleteIt's because of the seed pods. When they are ripe, they explode when you touch them. Pop!