Impatiens henslowiana Arn. in Companian Bot. Mag. 1: 322. 1836; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 1: 458. 1874. I. albida Wight in Madras J. Lit. Sci. ser. 1. 5: 7, t. l. 1837 & Icon. t. 743. 1844.

Suffruticose shrubs up to 1.5 m high; stems simple or branched, succulent when young, covered with scars of fallen leaves. Leaves alternate or spiral, elliptic-lanceolate, serrate, 3.5 -14 x 1.2 - 5 cm, subglabrous to pilose; glandular along margins; petioles 0.8 - 5 cm long, glabrescent to pilose. Flowers axillary, solitary or in fascicles, white; pedicels slender, 3 - 10 cm long, glabrous or pilose. Lateral sepals ovate, acuminate. Lip navicular; spur 4.5 - 6 cm long, slender, incurved, pubescent up to middle. Standard suborbicular, emarginate with an erect spur on back. Wings 2-lobed. Capsules fusiform, 2 - 2.5 cm long, glabrous or pilose; seeds almond-shaped, ca 3 mm long, rusty-brown, furrowed.

Fl. & Fr. April - Oct.

Distrib. India: Southern W. Ghats in ravines and clefts of rocks, 600 - 2000 m. Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Sri Lanka.

Chromosome no. 2 n = 16. (Bhaskar, V. in Taxon 25: 155. 1976).

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