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Also called, jewelweed, touch-me-not is an annual and a member of the balsam family, Balsaminaceae, that also includes busy lizzie. It is native to Canada and the US and grows in most of the states in the eastern part of the country. Plants prefer partial sun and wet to moist conditions but tolerate full sun and mesic conditions and can be found along ponds and streams, swamps, thickets, and moist woodland openings. The sap of the plants is used to treat skin rashes caused by poison ivy or nettle stings.
Description: With a shallow branching tap root, touch-me-not usually grows about three feet high but can reach six feet tall. The semi-translucent stems are branched and carry oval leaves on long petioles. The leaves are pale green, three to six inches long, and have pointed tips and toothed margins. The 1-1.5″ long flowers appear in pendent clusters of one to three and are pale yellow sometimes with red-brown spots in the throat. Each flower has five petals that are fused into a cone with a curved spur on the back side of the flower. The bloom period lasts about two to three months beginning in mid summer and flowers give way to elongated seed pods up to two inches long that eject seed up to 15′ when disturbed. Plants spread by seeds that remain viable in the soil for about two years. The flowers attract hummingbirds, butterflies and other pollinators including bumblebees, and the seeds attract birds.
Control: Improve drainage and add sulfur to the soil to make habitat less favorable to touch-me-nots. Pull, dig , or mow plants before they set seed. In severe cases use the selective herbicide triclopyr in grassy areas or the non-selective glyphosate where none of the existing vegetation is wanted.