As you may have already known, I’m a big fan of my Impatiens niamniamensis. Whilst I don’t like to play favorites, this species of impatiens really impresses me. It’s exotic flowers, strange bonsai trunk and pure exotic nature make my imagination run rampant. While I’ve often heard impatiens referred to as “Touch Me Nots” because of their exploding seed pods I’ve never actually seen it happen. The common Impatiens walleriana we grow at work don’t seem to go to seed, perhaps due to some glitch bred in during the hybridising process.
Having only had my I. niamniamensis for a little over a season and a half now this is the first year I’ve managed to get it to seed. The first year pollinators didn’t find it and most of the flowers faded off and did nothing. This season something different happened. I had originally thought that I. niamniamensis might have left it’s pollinators at home somewhere in central Africa, I was wrong. In late summer I began to see drunk wasps crawling inside the blooms to get a taste of the inner nectar. A few weeks later seed pods started to develop and a couple days ago I found my first exploded seed pod on the floor. The seeds are made of the strangest rubbery material twisted in on itself to create a slingshot effect when disturbed.
Seed Pod
Having lost the first pod’s seeds to the floor (or who knows where) I decided to try to capture the seeds and placed a small plastic bag around the seed pod. Within 24 hours the pod had exploded and the bag had collected the seeds. Excellent! Having felt pretty happy with myself I began to tie another bag onto an almost ripe seed pod when suddenly it burst and flung it’s contents in every which direction. A small popping sound could be heard, and the tightly wound rubber pod snapped apart. The conclusion to this experiment, when the pods are ready they wait like armed grenades, ready to explode when disturbed. The slingshot effect must help the plant disperse it’s seeds great distances, thus eliminating competition for the mother plant.
I love it when plant science works out. I’ve read they’re easy enough to grow from seed so I’m going to give it a shot with the fresh ones I’ve collected.
10 Responses to Plant Science: Collecting Impatiens niamniamensis seeds
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Hi,
Nice images and update of your seeds growing success! I am looking for its seeds then I discover your this post, wondering if you would like to trade plant seeds? We are same type of gardeners, always looking for something usual to grow with!
Thanks and Happy New Year!
Jane
I was very glad to find this website.
A long time ago I like this plant. I do not know where seeds could buy or receive. I searched eBay, etc., but only living plants found something I did not want to torture him for mailing.
I would like to seed. Please help someone. I live in Hungary.
I’m sorry for my bad english language skills.
Thank you!
Best regards, Eva
Thanks for that. I put mine into the main bed this year and it has done brilliantly all summer (and it’s been a rubbish summer), but no seeds. So I’ll be slicing mine up soon and starting a load of cuttings up.
Some grow outdoors while others grow in a greenhouse. I’ve seen wasps pollinating them but I’m sure bees do too, they climb right in the flower. Seed pods aren’t created 100% of the time but certainly appear here and there, often in the fall.
Are you growing this outdoors?
Where can I get these seeds from?
I’m afraid I didn’t keep any. I sowed them all. 7 months later I have about 10 fat seedlings.
Would love to have some of those seeds if you managed to catch any more :o)
very interesting, this movement the plant makes must be incredibly fast,i have noticed snap weed dispercing its seed,watch your eyes! cheers.
That is so cool. Wouldn’t it be neat to see a slow motion video of this in action!
It’ll be interesting to see if it keeps this coloration (isn’t the red/yellow/green one a cultivar? I don’t think it’s a straight up species…).