Perennial herb with erect, branched stems, up to 1 m tall, pubescent above, becoming hairless below. Leaves spirally arranged elliptic to subovate, 4.5–8.6 cm long, sparsely pubescent on the veins above, more densely pubescent beneath; margin crenate-dentate with teeth up to 2 mm long; petiole 0.7–2 cm long, pubescent. Flowers solitary, pink; bracts at the base linear-subulate, to c. 3 mm long; pedicels 3.5–5.5 cm long, pubescent; lateral sepals narrowly ovate-triangular, 4.5–5 mm long 1.5–2 mm wide, hairless inside, pubescent outside; lower sepal c. 11 mm long, 7.5 mm deep, abruptly constricted into a narrow spur 3.7–4 cm long, more densely pubescent at the base; dorsal petal broadly ovate to almost circular, deeply emarginate, dorsally with a narrow crest terminating in a distinct acute projection at the apex, 10–12 mm long and 11–12 mm wide, hairless inside, with a few hairs outside particularly on the crest; lateral united petals c. 19 mm long; upper petal elliptic oblong, distinctly apiculate, 10–12 mm long and 5 mm wide, about half the size of the lower petal; lower petal 16–17 mm long 8 mm wide, hairless. Ovary hairless.
Notes: A very recently described new taxon (Janssen, Ballings, Mertens & Dessein in Phytotaxa 333 -1: 73-85,2018).
Derivation of specific name: wuerstenii named after Bart Würsten, author, editor and photographer of the online Mozambique Flora, who collected the type specimen.
Habitat: In shelter of rocks, shrubs or trees at margins of montane grassland.
Worldwide distribution: Restricted to higher plateau of Mt Gorongosa in Mozambique.
Janssens, S.B., Ballings, P., Martens, A. & Dessein, S. (2018). A new endemic Impatiens species on Mount Gorongosa (Mozambique) demonstrates the conservation importance of montane areas in Africa Phytotaxa 333(1) Pages 73 - 77. Protologue (Includes a picture).
Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. & Coates Palgrave, M. (2019). Flora of Mozambique: Species information: Impatiens wuerstenii.