Look closerPlants
Jewelweed seed pods that burst open at a touch
When: August to October
Along wet, shady edges in eastern Massachusetts, ripe jewelweed pods are coiled springs that burst at the slightest touch and fling their seeds clear of the parent plant.
Why this time of year
Jewelweed flowers from midsummer until frost kills the plant, so through late summer and fall there are always a few capsules at the ready-to-pop stage along streams and damp trail edges.
How to notice it
- Find the patch by its dangling orange flowers in moist, semi-shady ground; the pods hang on the same plants.
- Pick out a plump pod and cup your hand loosely around it before touching, so the seeds land in your palm.
- Squeeze very gently; a ripe pod springs open at the lightest touch, and a firm one is not ready, so try another.
- Pop a few and leave the rest; every burst is the plant sowing next year's patch.
Try this with kids: Can you catch the seeds in your hand when a fat pod pops?
its folk name, touch-me-not, comes from these pods popping at the slightest touch
Safety
- Keep to firm footing at stream and wetland edges.
- In protected reserves, touch gently but do not collect plants or seeds.
Sources
- fs.usda.govflowering begins in mid-summer and continues until frost; ripe capsule bursts open at the slightest touch; moist semi-shady habitat, floodplain and marsh edges, throughout northern and eastern North America
- hort.extension.wisc.edublooms midsummer until frost; spring-loaded capsule sections curl back to forcibly eject the seeds; wet shady habitat; native to northern and eastern North America
- carleton.edupods pop when properly ripe, triggered by light contact; framed as an autumn phenomenon
In the guide for August, September, October