Impatiens balsamina (Garden Balsam)

Native to western and southern India and Sri Lanka, this annual herb has succulent stems and a taproot. Alternate, lance-shaped to elliptic leaves have sharply toothed margins. Showy flowers occur in the leaf axils and vary through pink, red, purple, white, and orange. Their incurved spurs extend behind the blossoms. Fuzzy capsules change from green to brown and split readily to scatter the seeds. Flowers and leaves yield a dye traditionally used to color fingernails. Cultivated in garden beds and containers, it has escaped cultivation and naturalized in Brazil. Photographed in Colombia.