How To Identify Jewel Weed, Spotted Touch Me Not - Medicinal Plant Identification

Hey guys in this video we learn how to identify jewel weed or spotted touch me not, a very popular medicinal plant for helping with poison ivy and bug bites. Jewel weed is an easy plant to identify with it's unique and very colorful flowers that have three petals and a horn or trumpet like shape to them. The inside of the flowers have orange and red colored spots that run all down the throat of the flower, which is where it gets the first part of its name spotted touch me not. The latter part comes from its small seedpod that will burst open with seeds when touched. The alternate growing leaves of jewel weed are ovate to lance shaped with dull teeth running along the margins of the leaf. The petiole will have a red tinge to it that runs up the leaf stem to the node of the main stem. The main stem doesn't have many unique shapes, however it is semi-translucent in appearance because of its juices. The juices of jewel weed come from rainy weather and in the main stem of the plant we will see large bumps where the juice and water has collected. These bumps get larger the further you go down the plant, and the stem gets more woody. Jewel weed loves to grow in shaded moist areas and can grow from three and a half feet tall to five or six feet tall in some areas. It's a colonizing plant that spreads out by its seeds and root system, so where you find one you will find a lot of them.
I thank you guys for watching this video I hope you enjoyed it and I hope you learned something. If you want to learn more about wild edibles or medicinal plants please make sure to subscribe!
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[@tatiana_phoenix]

EXCELLENT! Thank you!

[@clockguy2]

best Identification I've ever seen of it. I have heard that it grows in similar conditions that poison ivy grows in.

[@TrilliumWildEdibles]

Thank you! It does generally grow near poison ivy but not always. Near could mean within 100 yards or it could mean right next to each other.

[@selfhealherbs13ms]

Oh..my goodness you just explain and show us exactly what the plant is all about. I absolutely love 💘 your video's. Keep up the great work. I am learning so much from you. Thank you Josh.

[@2jzdashgte]

I regularly pick the edible flowers and add them to my salads. They don't add much flavor but they look absolutely beautiful in salads.

[@010101Be]

I do that with Nasturtiums 💜😋 I like it spicy!

[@bernie2231]

I learned very early in life, that when that when you brushed against what we called "itch weed" in north central PA, rubbing jewel weed on the wound would make the pain go away immediately. Fortunately jewel always seemed to be growing where "itch weed" did, usually by the river.

[@CanCanHikes]

That “itch weed” is exactly what brought me here. I broke out in a terribly painful rash on a trail in Vermont.

[@bernie2231]

@@CanCanHikes Yes! It's an immediate pain. Jewel weed is an immediate remedy. Very ironic in a way.

[@msuarez95]

do you use the flower of jewelweed or the leaves to remedy itchiness?

[@flightless8402]

@@msuarez95 He talked about using the "water"/ juices in the stem*. (I am not a plant or medical expert)

[@SWAMPHUNTER644]

The itchweed you refer to is actually stinging nettles (which you can look up). It too is an edible plant if cooked (so I am told). Some people call them horse nettles or just nettles. The leaves have little tiny sharp hairs which penetrate your skin and are very painful.

[@richmikesell7166]

I had a little trouble finding this in my field guide but I eventually found it, Impatiens noli-tangere. Thanks so much for the very enjoyable and informative video!

[@TrilliumWildEdibles]

You're very welcome Rich, I'm glad you liked it!

[@loveisaliveamen7066]

Best identification I have ever watched, repeating helps to remember identification marks. Thank you I will never forget what to look for 😘

[@TrilliumWildEdibles]

You're very welcome and I'm glad this video was so helpful for you!

[@SWAMPHUNTER644]

If you find Jewelweed after a rain or on a morning with heavy dew, you will see hundreds or droplets of water collected on the leaves like diamonds or shimmering jewels, thus the name, especially in the morning sunlight. If you are a grouse hunter, don't pass up a patch of Jewelweed. Grouse are fond of the seeds that pop and litter the ground. I have taken grouse (or some people call them partridge) and opened up their crop to find it full of the brown (mature) or green (immature) seeds. They are good to eat and the brown ones taste like walnuts.. You have to cup the palm of your hand around the seedpod so when it explodes, you capture most of the seeds. The larger pods are best. Once you have a heavy frost, the plant and seeds will die so early fall is the best time to get them.

[@trumpsters]

Wow, what a great video with lots of detail. I really enjoyed learning about this plant. Now I want to go out in the wild and find it.

[@Ichigoxlolita]

This has taken over my entire yard! I have a river out back, so that might be why. It’s handy, though, since there is also a lot of poison ivy. LOL

[@TheDustin49]

If I were you Pastel Sugar, I'd dig up poison ivy every time you see it in your yard. It's rash(which of course only happens to those who are allergic) makes you very miserable, and unfortunately, it's a very hardy plant. I doubt even the Sahara Desert could kill poison ivy since it's very drought resistant.

[@pudmupi]

The seeds are edible when you pop them open and they taste nutty. Very cool plant.

[@TrilliumWildEdibles]

Interesting, I never knew that, thanks! It is a great plant, thanks for commenting Trudi!

[@robyartist1]

Your so interesting to listen to and very informative. Can you dehydrate this plant and use it for poison ivy itch, etc.?

[@UPLINKUSA]

I wish I was a Jewel Weed. Just hang out in the shade, drink cool water and show off my orange flowers all day.

[@TrilliumWildEdibles]

Lol, right!!

[@Humble-Daniel]

There is a massive amount of jewel weed in my area. Probably because it's very moist with a lot of fresh water around where I live. They have a saying in new york state that you can't walk for 1 mile in the wilderness without running into some form of surface water. It's probably a little exaggerated... but only a little. There really is a lot of water here.

[@kleineroteHex]

Great info as always! I needed that about 4 years ago, but I did figure it out! Love them, my daughter has tons in the adjacent vacant lot. Must go there and get a few seeds.

[@TrilliumWildEdibles]

Thank you. They are beautiful and so helpful to have around!

[@poncandn1]

07/27/20 best video, best item (PERIOD!) that I’ve found about how to identify jewel weed, no other video, arrticle or even images has given me enough confidence to find it now. Suffering my second poison ivy or sumac, which I do believe it’s sumac, rash within two months. It’s spread on my arms over the healing first rash 😥 And when I say first I’m talking about my first ever rash at age 51. I thought I must not be allergic to it but then I thought again.

[@reecelincoln]

It was a very informative video. Great job! Are there any poisonous look-alikes to this plant?

[@DARWINZOO]

Look for disturbed areas side of country roads. Even Newcomb's wildflower guide can confuse between the orange & yellow varieties. Specifically the angle of the "spur" parallel or right angled. I've found that too variable

[@wildedibles819]

Great explanation of the features Im not so good at explaining them lol I like eating the seed pods off the plant lol natures pop rocks lol

[@redbeard8834]

It's great for anything itchy on the skin I always use it on bug bites

[@christinehaslam9480]

Hi, thanks for another great video. I have a bunch of stuff coming up and used the identify flower app to see what it might be. As theres no flowers. It's says jewel weed. Can you tell me please --- if the substance --- inside the stem --- smells like pine sap and is sticky --- like sap would be. Thank you:)

[@unneomexaenlacocina9380]

Great video ! I've complemented my info about the plant

[@TrilliumWildEdibles]

Awesome, glad it was helpful to you!

[@radscientist]

Is there any medicinal difference between the Spotted and Yellow?

[@TrilliumWildEdibles]

None that I'm aware of, which is awesome! Hope this helps and thanks for asking Crafty Bastard!

[@just_jourdan]

Do you know what would cause black spots on the leaves??

[@mollydog444]

Thanks for this it was very helpful. Just wish you had pulled one up and showed the root system and how it looks close to the root. I am always pulling weeds in my garden and see that part of plants as well. I have poison ivy in my garden so I was hoping I had Jewelweed but I'm not sure because I pull the weeds before they would flower and before they get more than a foot tall.

[@TrilliumWildEdibles]

Ahhh, I didn't show the root as it's not the part that's usually used medicinally, nor is it good for identification, so it wasn't really pertinent in any way. The plant looks the same without its flowers when its younger, same leaf shape and stem structure as shown here in this video. Hope this helps and thanks for mentioning that mollydog444!

[@philcoppa]

if you want jewel just let one grow to four or five feet. You'll get a lot, they're prolific. I let them grow as ground cover, easy to pull up when you want to.

[@learnjcbskidsterchickensga7594]

There is a you tube If you touched poison ivy… Wash with dawn soap four times to remove oil off skin.

[@unneomexaenlacocina9380]

Could you make a video about berries , like mulberry , blackberry, raspberry etc.?

[@TrilliumWildEdibles]

I would love to but every time I have tried it for some reason messes up...lol just the luck of it sometimes. I'm out of berries in this part of the country now for the most part, so its a better luck next year sort of thing. Sorry I've wanted to do a good video on berries for a while. I did one on harvesting mulberries last year, and talked a bit about raspberries in a summer foraging video a few months before that.

[@DalekDrone09]

Hey, I read that you can eat the young jewelweed stems/leaves if you boil them... Is this true? We have so much of it that grows every year and I don't wanna waste it by just chucking it into a pile to rot.

[@TrilliumWildEdibles]

Absolutely can, just boil them until the stem/shoot is tender to your liking, usually about 5-10 minutes, serve with butter at first to get the taste for them, then add them to anything your mind can think of! Hope this helps and thanks for asking Michael!

[@benmusserjr7976]

Another use for Jewelweed is for stinging nettle. Pulls the sting right out

[@davebenz8271]

You repeat yourself quite a bit. And what’s with all of the “whenevers”?

[@franceslinhart-rucks2084]

the sap of jewel weed id used for poison ivy and oak it really words