User:Olipisacreta/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
Impatiens glandulifera

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
(Briefly explain why you chose it, why it matters, and what your preliminary impression of it was.)

I've worked with the plant before at my last job. The article matters because it educates the public on an invasive species that is very prominent in many parts of the world. My preliminary impression is that the article does a good job of explaining the plants impacts to non-native ecosystems.

Evaluate the article
(Compose a detailed evaluation of the article here, considering each of the key aspects listed above. Consider the guiding questions, and check out the examples of what a useful Wikipedia article evaluation looks like.)

Immediately in the intro you know that Himalayan Balsam is an invasive species. I wish they would have focused a bit more of its relevance in it's native habitat. That said it does cover what is discussed later on in the article. Content wise it misses some details about the plant. It says HB only has pink flowers when in fact it can also have white or purple ones. The article is also missing another common name it has; policeman's helmet. I feel like the content could also include it's importance in the Himalayans, for example does it have any cultural significance to the people that live there? The article mostly contains the western and British perspective and doesn't have much about it's native homeland. I wish that it was discussed more to provide more perspective to the plant. Sources do appear to be accurate and up to date for the most part but sources mainly come from the United Kingdom or Canada. Talk page hasn't been used in quite awhile so it isn't very relevant to the edits that have been made. Overall the article does a good job of explaining HB as an invasive plant and gives solid descriptors and methods of removal. That said it lacks info about it's significance in its native habitat and I hope someone is able to fix that in the future to make this article well-rounded.