Question

In balsam plants the seeds fall off far away from the mother plant.
(a) Is this statement correct or incorrect?
(b) Give reason.

Answer 1

Hint:-A genus of more than 1,000 species of flowering plants is known to be Impatiens.
These are extensively circulated through the area of the Northern Hemisphere and the tropics.
Impatiens make up the family Balsaminaceae together with the genus Hydrocele. The impatiens,
jewelweed, touch-me-not, snapweed, and patience are common names of balsam plants in North
America.

Complete step-by-step solution:-
1. The above statement is correct. The seeds fall off far away from the mother plant in a
balsam plant.
2. The autochory phenomenon is shown by the balsam plants. The seeds and fruits of these
plants are capable of dispersing a large area. We can say that this is a mechanism in which
the structures get to break and the seeds are dispersed away from the plant. Thus, the seeds
fall away from the plant body.
It is said that the zygomorphic flowers of Impatiens are protandric in nature. It means the male cells
become female with an increase in their age. There are five free sepals in calyx. In these, one pair is
often strongly reduced. A flower spur of nectar is formed by a non-paired sepal. The spur is
completely lacking in a species from Madagascar, but they still have three sepals.

Note:- The leaves of these plants are said to be dentate or sinuate with extrafloral nectaries entirely. These are dependents of the species leaves and thus, they can be thin to succulent. On the underside of the leaves particularly, the tiny air bubbles are trapped over and under the leaf surface. They give them a silvery sheen that can become pronounced when they are detained underwater.