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Jewelweed

Posted Friday, August 27, 2021
Naturalist’s Journal

Jewelweed at Kirchner Woods, Stowe

Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) is a beautiful flowering plant with an orange flower. While an important resource for pollinators, these plants are self-seeding and can actually generate seeds without the need for cross-pollination from an outside source. Really cool!

Native American's utilized the plant for a variety of purposes, such as relieving pain or itchiness from plants like stinging nettle and poison ivy. It can treat many skin ailments when applied topically. Which is very helpful as this plant tends to grow in areas where poison ivy may be common as well. So if you come across some poison ivy while hiking around, look for the familiar orange flowers of the jewelweed plant, they might just save you from some excessive itching.

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