Sunday, January 10, 2010

Impatiens madagascariensis


This photo actually looks better than this species deserves to be portrayed--it is a leggy thing that is prone to powdery mildew in cool weather, and the flowers are rather small for an impatiens. It came as I. madagascariensis from Silverhill, and as impatiens sometimes do, it reappears from time to time as a self sown seedling in some other plant's pot months or years after I last grew it. This one came up late last summer in a pot of an epiphyllum species, and managed to persist until shortly after the whole pot went into my classroom for winter. It produced some seeds before it died, which I stored in the fridge should I choose to grow it out again. I also wouldn't be suprised if it reappeared anyway, no doubt I missed some of the pods, which explode when ripe to scatter the seeds elsewhere.

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