Impatiens fruticosa Leschen. ex DC., Prodr. 1: 687. 1824; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 1: 459. 1874.

Shrubs, perennial, erect, ca 2.5 m high, much branched; branches glabrous, glaucous, nodose at scars. Leaves alternate, ovate or elliptic, attenuate at base, acuminate at apex, crenate along margins, ciliate and glandular towards base, 7 - 13 x 3.5 - 5.5 cm, pubescent on both surfaces, sometimes silky beneath, many nerved, nerves stout; petiole 2 -7 cm long, stout, often villous, naked or glandular. Flowers axillary, paired or solitary, ca 4 cm broad, pink; bracts linear-subulate; pedicels often much larger and exceeding leaves. Lateral sepals ovate, acuminate, 1.5 x 0.6 cm, tomentose. Lip trumpet-shaped, acuminate, ca 1 cm long, spurred; spur curved, ca 2.5 cm long. Wings 2-lobed; lobes oblong, subequal, divaricate. Filaments united at apex. Capsules erect, ellipsoid, narrowed at both ends, beaked, ca 2.5 cm long, glabrous; seeds numerous.

Fl. Oct. - Jan. Fr. Nov. onwards.

Distrib. India: Southern W. Ghats, margins of sholas at an altitude of 1000 m. Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Endemic.

Chromosome no. n = 10 (Krishnaswamyet al. in South Indian Hort. 17 (1 & 2): 28 - 33. 1969); n = 8 (Rao, R.V.S. in Proc. Indian Sci. Congr. 59 (3): 356. 1972).