Because they tend to favor the same environment, spotted jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) and stinging nettle are often found growing side by side in large patches lining a hiking trail. Brushing up against the stinging nettle will give its tiny, stiff hairs an opportunity to scratch your skin and deposit an irritant that will often itch for the rest of the day. One experience of this kind will keep you on the watch for the nettle. Luckily, the jewelweed’s succulent stems contain a juice that helps ease the nettle’s sting when rubbed over the itching areas of your skin.
If you look closely at these plants, you will note that their tops have been nipped off at an almost uniform height. Both the jewelweed and stinging nettle are favorite foods of the deer, but the animals will stop feeding upon the plants at the point it becomes uncomfortable for them to bend any further. This point is known as the “browse line.” In years of scarce food, the browse line may be lower than normal as the deer continue to eat downward to obtain any nourishment they can.
Seek out spotted jewelweed growing beside a stream or along a moist area and you will have a good chance of getting to watch one or more ruby-throated hummingbirds flit from flower to flower. The birds’ long bills enable them to get deep inside the flower to obtain the nectar; in doing so, they pick up pollen from the stamens, which is deposited onto the pistils of the next flower visited.
Flower Fast Facts
FLOWER: The almost-one-inch, hanging, orange flowers are spurred and spotted with small reddish brown dots. The lowest of the three sepals curls to the back and makes a sac with a spur.
LEAVES AND STEM: The plant grows two to five feet tall and has leaves that are two to five inches long, toothed and somewhat elliptical in shape.
BLOOM SEASON: June to September
About This Series
“Mountain Wildflowers” features a wildflower from the Blue Ridge region each month from March to October. Leonard M. Adkins has written for Blue Ridge Country for more than two decades and is the author of 20 books about travel, hiking and nature. His Wildflowers of the Appalachian Trail, which received the prestigious National Outdoor Book Award, provides the photographs and some of the information he writes about in each “Mountain Wildflowers.” It and his other works may be obtained through his website.
