It is a flowering
herbaceous perennial plant growing to tall, with broad
lanceolate leaves 3–12 cm long and 2–5 cm broad. Leaves are mostly
alternate, although they may be
opposite near the top of the plant. The changeable, simple leaves are stalked 1.5 to 6 cm long. The leaf blade is
ovate to broadly elliptic, sometimes obovate, 2.5 to 13 inches long and 2 to 5.5 inches wide, green and sometimes spotted or pink or reddish on the underside.
Leaflets are missing. The hermaphroditic,
zygomorphic flowers are profusely borne, 2–5 cm diameter, with five petals and a 1 cm spur. The seedpod explodes when ripe in the same manner as other
Impatiens species, an evolutionary adaptation for
seed dispersal. The lower sepals are slightly boat-shaped and narrow suddenly in the 2.8 to 4.5 inches long, thread-like curved, but not curved back spur. The stems are semi-succulent, and all parts of the plant (leaves, stems, flowers, roots) are soft and easily damaged. ==Cultivation==