Slightly toxic
Effect:
antiseptic, diuretic, strong nausea-inducing, laxative, wound healing
Areas of application:
Wounds, skin diseases, hemorrhoids, as a laxative
Parts of the plant used:
Seeds, shoots
Collection time:
July to October
Can be found:
In shady, damp to wet forest areas, ravine forests, alluvial forests, stream banks up to altitudes of 1300 m.
Ingredients:
Bitter substances, glycosides, oil, tannins
Other:
The annual, herbaceous plant - Touch-me-not balsam - reaches heights of 30 to 70 (up to 100) centimeters. The juicy stem is swollen at the nodes. It is simple in the lower part and branched in the upper part. The leaves are alternate, stalked, ovate to ovate, pointed, wedge-shaped at the base and coarsely serrated-toothed. The upper leaves are usually smaller than the lower ones and have 7 to 16 (up to 20), usually blunt teeth on each side. One to four stalked flowers hang in the axils of the upper leaves. The hermaphrodite, golden-yellow, zygomorphic flowers are (15 to) 20 to 35 mm long. There are 3 sepals, two are missing, the two front ones are reduced to scales. The rear sepal is very large, 2.5 to 3 millimeters long, yellow with reddish dots, with a curved spur. Of the 5 petals, the upper, kidney-shaped one is smaller and covers the other larger ones. The lateral and rear petals are connected in pairs and have brown-red dots on the inside. The 5 short stamens are fused together at the top, the fused anthers are heart-shaped. The superior ovary consists of 5 fused carpels. The stigma is divided with a very short style. The fruit is a cylindrical to narrowly ovoid, ribbed and many-seeded, fleshy, loculicidal capsule; it is 15 to 25 millimeters long and green or brown striped. Flowering time is from July to August. (Wikipedia)
🛑 Regularly ingesting large amounts of these plants can be dangerous due to their high mineral content. This report, which seems nonsensical, may refer to calcium oxalate. This mineral is found in I. capensis and is probably also present in other members of the genus. It can be harmful raw, but is destroyed by thoroughly cooking or drying the plant. People with a tendency to rheumatism, arthritis, gout, kidney stones and hyperacidity should be especially careful when including this plant in their diet.
.jpg?uselang=de)
The name "touch-me-not" comes from the fact that the capsule fruits, which are ripe, are stretched by cell pressure and when touched, the seeds are hurled explosively up to 3 meters away.
In the kitchen, the seeds, which taste like nuts, can be eaten raw or cooked mixed in vegetable dishes or patties. They can also be processed into cooking oil. The flowers are an edible decoration. If you want to use the young shoots as a cooking vegetable, you should boil them several times and pour off the cooking water.