Impatiens latifolia L., Sp. Pl. 937. 1753; Hook.f., Fl. Brit. India 1: 450. 1874, excl. syn. I. cuspidata Wight & Arn. I. bababudanensis Hook.f. in Bull. Misc. Inform. 1910: 295. 1910.

Erect shrubs, 12 m high; stems branched. Leaves alternate, subopposite or whorled, often crowded at ends of branches, ovate-lanceolate, acuminate or caudate-acuminate at apex, crenate-serrate along margins, 5 - 12 x 2 x 2.5 cm, membranous, glandular on lower half and petiole; nerves 7 - 10 pairs; petioles 2 - 10 cm long. Flowers solitary, binate or in fascicles, white or purple; pedicels slender, often recurved in fruits, 2 - 6 cm long. Lateral sepals small or minute,ovate, cuspidate. Lip cymbiform, concave, acuminate; spur 1.2 - 2 cm long, slender, straight or incurved. Standard larger than wings, bilobed. Wings bilobed; basal lobes shorter than distal ones. Capsules ellipsoid, 1.8 - 2.5 cm long; seeds obovoid, rugose or papillose.

Fl. & Fr. May - Dec.

Distrib. India: Southern W. Ghats up to 2400 m. Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Endemic.

Notes. Hook.f.(Fl. Brit. India 1: 450. 1874) treated I. cuspidata Wight & Arn. as a synonym under this species but in Rec. Bot. Surv. India 4: 47. 1906 reinstated it as a distinct species.

Chromosome no. 2n = 6. (Rao, R.V.S. in Proc.lndian Sci. Congo Assoc. 61: 120. 1975).