Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk (PIER)

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Impatiens walleriana
Hook.f, Balsaminaceae
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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  Low risk (based on second screen), score: 6 (Go to the risk assessment)

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: su dan feng xian hua

English: Japanese balsam, balsam, bizzy-lizzie, busy lizzy, garden impatiens, impatiens, patience plant, patient lucy, snapweed, sultan's balsam, sultan's flower, sultana, zanzibar balsam

French: balsamine sauvage, impatiens

Samoan: patiale

Spanish: balsamina, chino, mírame lindo

Tongan: polosomo

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Herb, perennial or annual, to 90 cm high (36 in) with weak, succulent stems.  Leaves simple, alternate, blade elliptic to ovate, 4-12 cm long (1 5/8 - 5 in) with toothed margins and a long petiole bearing stalked glands.  Flowers continuously through the year; flowers one to three, borne in short-stalked, axillary clusters, each flower with a curved, nectar-filled spur 3-5 cm long (1 1/4 -2 in).  Corolla rotate, two-sided, with five free obovate petals mostly 1.8-3 cm long (3/4- 1 1/4 in), often notched at the tip, white, pine, red, or purple, with the purple stamens united to form a hood over the ovary.  Fruit a glabrous ovoid capsule 1.5-2.5 cm long (5/8 - 1 in), opening explosively to eject the seeds"  (Whistler, 2000; pp. 270-271).

"Succulent, flat-topped perennial herbs 0.3-1 m tall.  Leaves often greenish or reddish green on both surfaces, alternate or the uppermost sometimes opposite, lanceolate or ovate to elliptic-oblong, 3-10 cm long, margins crenate-denticulate.  Flowers solitary or in axillary or terminal racemes, red, reddish-orange, pine, purple, white, or variegated, the spur usually 2.5-3.2 cm long."  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 380).

Habitat/ecology:  In Hawai‘i, "naturalized in relatively moist, often shaded sites" (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 380).  In Australia, colonizes forest margins, displacing native fern communities around waterfalls, and naturalizes in riparian habitats and other moist areas in southeastern Queensland (Tucker and Guymer, cited in Csurhes and Edwards, 1998; p. 112).

Propagation:  Seed and cuttings (Csurhes and Edwards, 1998; p. 112).

Native range:  Eastern and southern tropical Africa; also cultivated; widely naturalized in tropic, subtropic and warm-temperate regions (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. &
Island group
Location Cited status &
Cited as invasive &
Cited as cultivated &
Cited as aboriginal introduction?
Reference &
Comments
Chile (offshore islands)
Juan Fernández Islands
Isla Más a Tierra (Robinson Crusoe Island) introduced
invasive
cultivated
Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John (2011)
Chile (offshore islands)
Juan Fernández Islands
Isla Más a Tierra (Robinson Crusoe Island) introduced
cultivated
Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido (2006) (pp. 486, 532, 554)
Voucher cited: Danton I(5/140)1486. "De introducción reciente en los jardines del pueblo de San Juan Bautista son plantas que deben ser vigiladas muy de cerca".
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (US)
Northern Mariana Islands
Rota Island introduced
Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 150)
Cook Islands
Southern Cook Islands
‘Atiu Island cultivated
McCormack, Gerald (2013)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands)
Isabela Group
Isabela Island introduced
invasive
cultivated
Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands)
Isabela Group
Volcán Sierra Negra, Isabela Island introduced
invasive
cultivated
Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands)
San Cristóbal Group
San Cristóbal Island introduced
invasive
cultivated
Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands)
Santa Cruz Group
Santa Cruz Island introduced
invasive
cultivated
Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Federated States of Micronesia
Kosrae Island
Kosrae Island introduced
cultivated
Lorence, David H./Flynn, Timothy (2010) (p. 13)
Fiji
Fiji Islands
Viti Levu Island introduced
cultivated
Smith, Albert C. (1985) (p. 630)
Vouchers cited: Smith 5021, DA 16769
French Polynesia
Gambier Islands
Mangareva (Gambier) Island introduced
invasive
Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2013)
Naturalisée
French Polynesia
Gambier Islands
Taravai Island introduced
invasive
Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2013)
Naturalisée
French Polynesia
Marquesas Islands
Hiva Oa Island introduced
invasive
Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2013)
Naturalisée
French Polynesia
Marquesas Islands
Nuku Hiva (Nukahiva) Island introduced
invasive
Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2013)
Naturalisée
French Polynesia
Society Islands
Moorea Island introduced
invasive
Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2013)
Naturalisée
French Polynesia
Society Islands
Tahiti Island introduced
invasive
Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2013)
Naturalisée
French Polynesia
Austral (Tubuai) Islands
Raivavae (Raevavae) Island introduced
invasive
Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2013)
Naturalisée
French Polynesia
Austral (Tubuai) Islands
Rurutu Island introduced
invasive
Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2013)
Naturalisée
French Polynesia
Austral (Tubuai) Islands
Tubuai Island introduced
invasive
Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2013)
Naturalisée
Guam
Guam Island
Guam Island introduced
Raulerson, L. (2006) (p. 44)
State of Hawaii
Hawaiian Islands
Hawai‘i (Big) Island introduced
invasive
cultivated
Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 380)
State of Hawaii
Hawaiian Islands
Kaua‘i Island introduced
invasive
cultivated
Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 380)
State of Hawaii
Hawaiian Islands
Maui Island introduced
invasive
cultivated
Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 380)
State of Hawaii
Hawaiian Islands
Moloka‘i Island introduced
invasive
cultivated
Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 380)
State of Hawaii
Hawaiian Islands
O‘ahu Island introduced
invasive
cultivated
Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 380)
Voucher cited: Neal s. n. (BISH)
Marshall Islands
Ralik Chain
Kwajalein (Kuwajleen) Atoll introduced
cultivated
Whistler, W. A./Steele, O. (1999) (p. 99)
Marshall Islands
Ratak Chain
Majuro (Mãjro) Atoll introduced
cultivated
Vander Velde, Nancy (2003) (p. 73)
Nauru
Nauru Island
Nauru Island introduced
cultivated
Thaman, R. R./Fosberg, F. R./Manner, H. I./Hassall, D. C. (1994) (p. 103)
New Caledonia
New Caledonia Archipelago
Île Grande Terre introduced
invasive
cultivated
MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 20)
Vouchers cited: Guillaumin & Baumann 10534, MacKee 20614, Fukuoka et al. 196, MacKee 45780
Spontané
Palau
Palau (Belau ) (main island group)
Babeldaob Island introduced
cultivated
Space, James C./Waterhouse, Barbara/Miles, Joel E./Tiobech, Joseph/Rengulbai, Kashgar (2003) (p. 101)
Palau
Palau (Belau ) (main island group)
Koror (Oreor) Island introduced
Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 150)
Palau
Palau (Belau ) (main island group)
Koror (Oreor) Island introduced
cultivated
Space, James C./Waterhouse, Barbara/Miles, Joel E./Tiobech, Joseph/Rengulbai, Kashgar (2003) (p. 97)
Palau
Palau (Belau ) (main island group)
Koror (Oreor) Island introduced
cultivated
Space, James C./Lorence, David H./LaRosa, Anne Marie (2009) (p. 64)
Palau
Palau (Belau ) (main island group)
Ngerkebesang Island introduced
cultivated
Space, James C./Waterhouse, Barbara/Miles, Joel E./Tiobech, Joseph/Rengulbai, Kashgar (2003) (p. 97)
Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. &
Island group
Location Cited status &
Cited as invasive &
Cited as cultivated &
Cited as aboriginal introduction?
Reference &
Comments
Australia
Australia (continental)
Queensland introduced
invasive
Csurhes, S./Edwards, R. (1998) (p. 112)
China
China
China (People's Republic of) introduced
invasive
cultivated
Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2013)
Coastal forest areas, riverine thickets, river margins, shaded places, humid places, also cultivated in gardens and greenhouses; ca. 1800 m. Guangdong, Hebei.
China
China
Hong Kong introduced
invasive
cultivated
Wu, Te-lin (2001) (p. 203)
Cultivated or naturalized ornamental.
Singapore
Singapore
Singapore (Republic of) introduced
cultivated
Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. (2009) (p. 50)
Cultivated only
Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. &
Island group
Location Cited status &
Cited as invasive &
Cited as cultivated &
Cited as aboriginal introduction?
Reference &
Comments
La Réunion (France)
La Réunion Island
La Réunion Island introduced
invasive
Lavergne, Christophe (2006)
"Très envahissant"
Seychelles
Seychelles Islands
Seychelles Islands introduced
Invasive Species Specialist Group (2017)

Comments:  Naturalized on basalt soils in northern Queensland (Csurhes and Edwards, 1998; p. 112).

Control:  If you know of control methods for Impatiens walleriana, please let us know.


Need more info? Have questions? Comments? Information to contribute? Contact PIER! (pier@hear.org)

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This page was created on 1 JAN 1999 and was last updated on 13 MAY 2013.