Orange Balsam - Impatiens capensis
Medium to tall hairless plant to 1.2 metres. Leaves oval to lanceolate with a few coarse teeth, often rather wavy. Flowers orange, with large reddish brown spots 20 to 30 mm, shaped like the old policeman's helmet, with an incurved spur.
Canal and river banks.
June to September
Annual
Fairly frequent in the Midlands and southern England.
Fairly frequent Leicestershire and Rutland. In the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire it was found in 42 of the 617 tetrads.
Graham Calow
Basin Bridge Lane, Wykin
24 July 2015
Graham Calow
Wykin Canal
09 September 2010
Graham Calow
Witherley
01 August 2015
David Gould
G.U. Canal, Aylestone, Leicester.
25 August 2017
HAPeacock
River Soar - St Marys Mill
19 August 2012
Graham Calow
Wykin Canal
09 September 2010
Graham Calow
Basin Bridge Lane, Wykin
12 June 2015
emerging plant
Leicestershire & Rutland Map
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Species profile
- Common names
- Jewel-Weed, Orange Balsam
- Species group:
- flowering plant
- Kingdom:
- Plantae
- Order:
- Ericales
- Family:
- Balsaminaceae
- Records on NatureSpot:
- 79
- First record:
- 09/09/2010 (Calow, Graham)
- Last record:
- 01/09/2025 (Gaten, Ted)
Total records by month
% of records within its species group
10km squares with records
The latest images and records displayed below include those awaiting verification checks so we cannot guarantee that every identification is correct. Once accepted, the record displays a green tick.
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Latest images
Latest records
David Gould
GU Canal, Aylestone
26 August 2016
David Gould
GU Canal, Aylestone
26 August 2016
Graham Calow
Wykin Canal
09 September 2010
HAPeacock
River Soar - St Marys Mill
19 August 2012
HAPeacock
River Soar - St Marys Mill
19 August 2012
Graham Calow
Wykin Canal Towpath
31 July 2015
Graham Calow
Wykin Canal
09 September 2010
Peter Smith
Mountsorrel, River Soar
15 July 2011
David Nicholls
Barrow Upon Soar
15 July 2011
HAPeacock
River Soar - St Marys Mill
19 August 2012
David Nicholls
Ashby Canal, Shackerstone
15 September 2012
David Gould
GU Canal, Aylestone
04 September 2014
David Gould
GU Canal, Aylestone
04 September 2014
David Gould
G.U. Canal, Aylestone, Leicester.
25 August 2017
David Gould
G.U. Canal, Aylestone, Leicester.
25 August 2017
