Impatiens leschenaultii (DC.) Wallich ex Wight & Arn., Prodr. Fl. Pen. Ind. Or. 131. 1834; Wight, Icon. t. 970. 1845; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 1: 450. 1874. Balsamilla leschenaultii DC., Prodr. 1: 586. 1824.

Suffruticose shrubs up to 1.5 m high. Leaves opposite, alternate or whorled, ovate-lanceolate, acute or acuminate, 2.5 - 10.5 x 1.2 - 4 cm, crenate, sometimes ciliate on sinus; nerves 4 or 5 pairs; petioles up to 5 cm long, glandular on upper half. Flowers solitary, binate or in fascicles, pink or white; pedicels up to 8 cm long. Lateral sepals ovate-lanceolate, ca 3 mm long, yellow with brownish tinge. Lip cymbiform, 5 - 7 mm long, yellow; spur slender, incurved, 1 - 1.2 cm long. Standard suborbicular, spurred on dorsal side. Wings bilobed; basal lobes smaller than distal ones. Capsules ellipsoid, beaked,ca 1.8 cm long, glabrous; seeds 3 - 5, obovoid, ca 3 mm long, dark purplish-brown, rugose or papillose.

Fl. & Fr. April - Dec.

Distrib. India: W. Ghats, 900 - 2400 m. Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Endemic.

Notes. Wight & Amott (I.c.) attributed this species as a connecting link between I. latifolia L. and I. balsamina L. The type is from Kerala collected by Leschenault and not from Sri Lanka as stated by De Candolie 1824.

Chromosome no. 2n = 6. (Virendra Kumar & Subramaniam, Chr. Atlas Fl. Pl. Ind. Subc. 1: 85. 1986).