Researchers from the Wuhan Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have discovered a new species of the Impatiens during a plant diversity survey in Ngari Prefecture, Xizang, China. The species has been named Impatiens ngariensis S. Peng, G. W. Hu & Q. F. Wang (Fig. 1). The study was recently published in the international plant taxonomy journal PhytoKeys under the title "Impatiens ngariensis(Balsaminaceae), a new species from Xizang, China".

The Impatiens is species-rich, comprising more than 1,000 species worldwide and mainly distributed in tropical and subtropical regions of the Old World, including tropical Africa, Madagascar, southern India-Sri Lanka, the Eastern Himalaya, and Southeast Asia. In China, approximately 360 species of Impatiens have been recorded, most of which occur in southwestern China, including Yunnan, Sichuan, Xizang, and Guizhou. As of 2025, more than 70 species have been documented in Xizang, all belonging to Impatiens subgenus, with the majority assigned to section Racemosae. In 2024 alone, about eight new species of this genus were described worldwide, indicating that many potential new taxa remain to be discovered within this diverse lineage.

During field investigations conducted in Zanda County, Ngari Prefecture, in 2023, the research team discovered an Impatiens species that closely resembles I. sulcata (Fig. 2). Through detailed morphological comparisons and molecular phylogenetic analyses based on nuclear nrITS and plastid atpB-rbcL sequence data, the researchers confirmed that the plant represents a new species belonging to Impatiens section Racemosae. Phylogenetic analyses indicate that it forms a well-supported monophyletic lineage with species such as I. thomsonii (Fig. 3).

Impatiens ngariensis is an annual herb, 30-66 cm tall, with white to pale pink flowers. It grows in streamside wetlands under forest at an elevation of approximately 3,090 m. At present, the species is known only from a single population discovered in Zanda County, Ngari Prefecture. Because its potential distribution range and population size remain insufficiently investigated, the species has been preliminarily assessed as Data Deficient (DD) according to the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria.

The discovery of this new species not only enriches the species diversity of Impatiens in Xizang, but also provides new material for studying the evolutionary history, adaptive radiation, and biogeographic patterns of the genus on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

LI Ruping, a jointly trained master's student from the Wuhan Botanical Garden and the Tibet University, is the first author. The research was conducted under the supervision of Prof. WANG Qingfeng, Prof. HU Guangwan, and Dr. PENG Shuai, with participation from doctoral student YUAN Taohua and HU Tian. The National Wild Plant Germplasm Resource Center provided support during field investigations and research activities. The study was supported by the Science and Technology Major Project of Xizang and the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research programme.

Fig. 1: Impatiens ngariensis (Image by LI Ruping)

Fig. 2: Impatiens ngariensis (A1-H1), I. thomsonii (A2-H2) and I. sulcata (A3-H3) (Image by LI Ruping)

Fig. 3: The phylogenetic tree based on a combined dataset of nrITS and plastid atpB-rbcL DNA sequences (Image by LI Ruping)