Plant identification, wild

[Matt & Trai Rathsack]

hi all,

I live in Maryland, Z7. My husband and I saw a shrub, wild, in our back yard that is lovely. We collected some seeds and then started seeing them everyhwere. I do not have a digital camera so I can only describe them to the best of my ability.

They are yellow with orange flecks, shaped a bit like standard orchids bred with pitcher plants at a minute size. They are approximately .5" in length and have a tail. The shrub grows in great round clumps, about 4 feet high and 4 feet in width. The most interesting thing about them is that the fruit they produce is about .5" in lenght adn are colored a bit ike a watermelon without the light yellow, and they "explode" when touched. The pod is striated, and the individual parts peel back like a banana but curl under. The seeds are small and brown.

They grow wild in the northern/central part of maryland.

Anyone have a clue as to what they are?

Thanks in advance, Trai

[Charles]

like these?

[MLEBLANCA]

Jewelweed or Touch me not Impatiens capensis

[Jan Flora]

Yep. If you have stinging nettle, rubbing a leaf from jewelweed on the sting will make it stop stinging. The plants usually grow near each other.

Jan

[Tina Gibson]

Also found near poison ivy and is an antidote for the itch when crushed and rubbed. Warning about these plants - they are highly invasive and you will likely curse the day you brought them into your yard!!! Take it from one who also thought they were very pretty flowers once. Now every spring I am still pulling out thousands of little jewelweed seedlings!! A few always manage to go unnoticed growing among other plants. And they will grow anywhere even in the darkest spots in your garden. Tina

[Matt & Trai Rathsack]

THOSE ARE THE ONES! Thanks!! We love them, but I think they are weeds. or weedy...at any rate they are very pretty aren't they?

trai

[Matt & Trai Rathsack]

Interesting Jan, because we do indeed have stinging nettles. My daughter hopped on one last year and told me "fireant plants' had bitten her...lol.

That's a great peice of advice, thanks! Trai

[Matt & Trai Rathsack]

Hm, well, I'll have to note that in my garden book. I have them growing wild in the back, next to the park our property runs adjacent to. interesting. What is the chemicla in the leaf that breaks down the poisons?

trai

[Tina Gibson]

Honestly don't know, probably have read it but never really payed attention - I may just google it though. There is lots on the net about it. Apparently work good on insect bites as well - wasps, bees, other 'hurting kind'. But just about any crushed plant will do as well. I'm guessing some kind of flavenoid..

[Matt & Trai Rathsack]

(snip of increasingly long previous post...)

Well, maybe I'll email a botonist on that one. Very interesting. I might just have to go out and get stung to find out if it works...hopefully I won't develop a deadly allergy suddenly to bees....but it would be interesting to find out if different plants do indeed stop the sting. Do the crushed leaves need to be wetted with anything?

trai

[Tina Gibson]

not if they are crushed fresh, plenty of water in the leaves for wetting. There are indeed many wild plants that contain chemicals that help us heal......and take away pain, willow bark is the prime example.. Tina

[David Hill]

"........... Apparently work good on insect bites as well - wasps, bees, other 'hurting kind'. But just about any crushed plant will do as well. I'm guessing some kind of flavenoid........."

Well in the UK it's Dock leaves for nettle stings, also you can use Sorrel, Which is actually better as it has more sap in the leaves. The sap from the leaves contain an anti histamine so act on the sting chemicaly, also the coolness of the crushed leaf is also soothing.