Botanical name: Impatiens kamrupana    Family: Balsaminaceae (Balsam family)

Kamrup Balsam is an annual fleshy herb, sparsely branched, up to 1.5 m tall. It is named for the Kamrup distt. of Assam, where it was first found. Flowers are borne in leaf-axils in fascicles, carried on flower-cluster-stalk 0.5-1 cm long, bearing 3-6 flowers. Flower buds are greenish white with red veins, flowers bi-colored, whitish and purple, flower-stalk 1-1.5 cm long, green to reddish. Lateral sepals are 2, 3.8-4.1 x 1.5-1.7 mm, ovate, light green, tip pointed, hairless. Lower sepal is almost conical, 0.4-0.5 cm deep, mouth 1-1.2 cm wide, white to yellowish white, with prominent red veins inside, beaked, beak 1-1.5 mm long; spur linear, 7-10 mm long, straight to slightly curved, swollen just above the middle, yellow, tip unifid, swollen. Dorsal petal is almost round, 0.6-0.9 x 0.8-1.3 cm, tip notched, white, shortly beaked, dorsal side with greenish ridge. Lateral united petals are bilobed, nearly equal, 1.7-2.8 cm long (whole), hairless; basal lobe obovate, 0.5-0.8 x 0.9-1.2 cm, white, tip blunt, clawed; distal lobe axe-shaped, 0.6-0.9 x 1.0-1.7 cm, purple, tip rounded; dorsal ear distinct, 0.25-0.28 x 0.15-0.18 cm, yellow to brownish in color. Stems are round, ridged, younger stem velvet-hairy, green, occasionally reddish in color, nodes swollen. Leaves are alternate, distributed evenly along the stem; leaf-stalk 1.5-6 cm long, velvet-hairy, green, stipules present; leaf blade ovate to elliptic, 5-17 x 2.3-5 cm, base wedge-shaped to narrowed, margin rounded toothed, bristly on tip of the teeth, tip tapering, lateral veins up to 15. Capsules are green, swollen at middle, ridged, hairless, 1.6-2 x 0.8 cm. Kamrup Balsam is found in NE India. Flowering: July-September.

Your name:
Your email:
Your comments
The flower labeled Kamrup Balsam is ...