regnum-plantae:

regnum-plantae:

Impatiens marianae, Balsaminaceae

I’ve photographed this stunning species of Balsam at Glasgow Botanic Gardens, but I couldn’t find an ID tag and ended up spending quite some time scrolling through photos of plants that display blister, or reflective, variegation. This form of variegation is caused by the presence of a layer of air under the epidermis of the leaf, which reflects light creating a white-silvery effect. It is the second time that I “waste” time trying to identify a plant based only on this characteristic and in this case it was actually the flower morphology that led me straight to the Balsaminaceae. It was lucky a few blossoms were present, as the plant seems to be an infrequent bloomer in cultivation and otherwise I would probably still be in the dark.  

Once I identified it, I realised that little relevant literature about this plant is readily available online, at least in English and Italian. From what I’ve gathered, it is endemic to India and rarely seen anywhere else other than botanic gardens, where it is grown as a perennial ground cover due to the striking variegation. Despite a look which we generally tend to associate with tropical heat-loving plants, it prefers cooler temperatures and requires consistent humidity to thrive.

I. marianae seems to propagate mostly asexually by trailing along the ground and rooting easily where the stem touches the soil. 

To read more about this plant have a look here.

When I took these photos in the Kibble Palace, one of the glasshouses at the Gardens, I had no idea less than a year later I would get a chance to walk inside an amazing north-facing little fern house part of the backstage as a student. In that magical, dripping wonderland of cool shade covered in ferns and bryophytes anywhere but the ceiling, a luxuriant I. marianae sprawling around a corner was the only higher plant and was literally covered in flowers. The former curator was very proud of it, as it looked to be doing even better than the one you see above and I regret not asking if I could take a photo…but if I get another chance I will try, that plant needs to be famous!