One-year, winter-hardy, large (50-170 cm) plant of the balsam family. The stem is densely covered, upright, branched, and succulent. The flowers are arranged in elongated, slender spikes on the upper leaf axils. The flowers range from pink to violet, large (3-4 cm). An interesting feature of this plant is that when you touch its mature seed capsule, it bursts open and shoots the seeds several meters away. It blooms from July to October.

It grows both as individual specimens and in dense stands in various fertile wastelands, around old parks, and in river valleys.

Information sources: www.latvijasdaba.lv, Wikipedia