Impatiens balfourii

Kashmir balsam, Kashmir Balsam

Family: Balsaminaceae · Type: perennial · Not Native

Kashmir balsam is a naturalized perennial found in northern California Coast, southern San Francisco Bay, and northeastern Santa Catalina Island on shores and streambanks at elevations below 1,000 meters. Flowering from April to September, this plant produces white, pink, and purple flowers with occasional yellow marks, arranged in small clusters of up to 8 blooms. Growing 50 to 100 centimeters tall with alternate leaves, it has lanceolate to wide-ovate leaf blades that are sharply serrated and 2 to 13 centimeters long. Its leaves feature distinctive gland-like stipules less than 1 millimeter wide, dome-shaped and unlobed. The plant produces club-shaped fruits and is characterized by flowers with a straight 10 to 20 millimeter spur that tapers gradually.

Habitat: Shores, streambanks

Bloom period: Apr-Sep

Elevation: < 1000 m

Bioregions: NCo, n CCo, s SnFrB, ne SCo, SnBr

California counties: San Bernardino, Sutter, Marin, Santa Cruz, Alameda, San Mateo, Santa Clara

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.