Policeman's helmet
(Impatiens glandulifera)

Description:
Impatiens glandulifera, or policeman’s helmet, is an herbaceous annual that is succulent and glabrous (smooth and hairless), and it can range from three to ten feet tall. The upright, hollow stems are easily broken and they have a purplish tinge.

The leaf arrangement can be opposite or whorled, with (usually) three leaves to a node. The simple leaves range from oblong to ovate to elliptic (egg shaped), and they are about six inches long and half as wide. The leaf margins are sharply serrate with 20 teeth, or more, along each side. Each leaf has a stout petiole (stem), with small, glandular stalks found at the base of these petioles. Several solitary flowers terminate an elongated axillary stalk.

The flowers are irregular, with five petals (two fused), three sepals (two fused) and five stamens with connate (fused) filaments. The overall flower shape resembles an English policeman’s helmet. The fused sepals form a spur less than six mm long. The flower color ranges from white to all shades of pink and purple. The fruit is a five chambered capsule. When touched, the mature capsule explodes and ejects up to 800 seeds.

The roots extend four to six inches deep, with adventitious roots found along the lower stem nodes, sometimes buttressing.

• Mechanical: An annual with a shallow root system, policeman's helmet can be easily pulled. A seed bank is present with two year viability so follow up control is recommended.
• Biological: Not Known.
• Herbicide: Policeman's helmet does respond to herbicides, with early season control recommended to prevent flowering, and late season application to control late-season non-flowering plants. Flowering plants sprayed with herbicide still produce viable seed (Beerling and Perrins 1993). More information is needed on local herbicide control options.repeated applications of the same herbicide or same mode of action may select for resistant plants.

For More Information:
Detailed information about Policeman's Helmet is available at the Washington State Noxious Weed Control Board Web Site.