Product Review

The first written record of this native American species comes from Dr. Nicolaas Meerburgh's rare mid-eighteenth century botanical work Pictures of Rare Plants, in which he described and illustrated then little-known species of plants. The genus name "Impatiens" comes from the plant's "impatient" habit of forcibly expelling its seeds from their pods. The species name "capensis" comes from the mistaken idea that this plant originated near the southernmost tip of Africa, the Cape of Good Hope. Because of its legendary healing qualities, this plant has a prominent place in folk medicine as a treatment for poison ivy, bug bites, rashes, and other skin complaints.