The other day when I was at a small waterfall, there was “nots” around the edge of the ravine. The tiny blue Forget-me-not wildflower and the orange Spotted Touch-me-not were both blooming. The Spotted Touch-me-not is an important nectar source for the Ruby-throated Hummingbird and they can use their long slender beaks to reach to the base of the plant’s long tubular blossom.
Spotted Touch-Me-Not
The sun had a bit of an orange color at sunset, but otherwise the day was mostly gray without a blue sky as a backdrop to the colorful Spotted Touch-me-not. When the ripe pods are touched, they explode outward and that characteristic is where the name ‘touch-me-not’ comes from.
Spotted Touch-me-not
Small spots of orange can be seen in ditches and other areas. The Spotted Touch-me-not, or Orange Jewelweed, is a native flower which grows 3 to 5 feet tall. Hummingbirds feed on the flower’s nectar and when the seed pods are ripe, the seeds explodes out of the pods if they are touched, which is where the name ‘touch-me-not’ comes from.
Spotted Touch-me-not
The flower may be orange, but the fruit is a pale green pods which “explode” at the slightest touch, scattering the seeds in all directions, hence the name “touch me not”. The Spotted Touch-me-not is a native plant (and this time was transported to parts of Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries).
The plant is also known as Jewelweed and Orange Jewelweed – a reference to the way the spotted blossoms hand like a pendent jewel and leaves appear to be silver or ‘jeweled’ when held underwater. The wildflower is important nectar plants for hummingbirds and the stems also contain a juice that can relieve the sting from Poison Ivy or Stinging Nettle.
Spotted Touch-Me-Not
Normally I wouldn’t post two flower pictures back to back and I was saving this one for a friend’s birthday since it looks like a horn to announce the birthday. But since it’s already tomorrow in Australia, and therefore already her birthday, I will post it today.
This trumpet-like flower is the Spotted Touch-me-not. The name touch-me-not comes from this plants unique way of seed dispersal. The seed capsule when it is touched explodes, sending its seeds up to 4 feet away.
The Spotted Touch-me-not is a high reward flower, which when insects consume the nectar of the touch-me-not are getting more energy than they would at another flower. In some cases insects such as bumble bees will feed on the nectar of low reward plants on very warm days when they don’t need as much energy, and save the high reward flowers, like the touch-me-not for cooler times.
But that’s enough rambling about the flower and it’s time to say Happy Birthday to my friend on the other side of the world and I hope you have a wonderful day!
Spotted Touch-Me-Not
