I have been searching for info on the parrot flower for some time now without any luck. Has anyone on this board any info on where I could obtain seeds or plants or know anything about this plant? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks . . Dar Picture
I am new to the boards. Where is the "sourcing" plant forum? Have looked through different categories but don't seem to see that particular one? Sorry to be a bother! It is not only a source for this particular plant I am after, but also any info at all; where it originates, preferred growing conditions etc. I have not been able to verify that the "parrot flower" is truly the "psitticana". The only info I have been able to find on the web is in Thai. . . .Dar
The plant in question looks like the one in the thread Impatient glandulifera? | UBC Botanical Garden Forums. (The pictures appear to have come from the same source.) Home -> Conversations and Chat -> Sourcing Plants and Supplies.
The correct name is Impatiens psittacina. I have been researching this plant for some months for my website www.ExoticRainforest.com According to the Thailand government, where the plant grows in the northern portion of the country, this plant is banned for export of both plants and seeds. I have contacted numerous plant exporters in Thailand and no one will dare export the plant. I have also contacted numerous rare impatiens growers and no one seems to have the plant in the United States. I have several contacts in Thailand as well as know plant nuts who travel to Thailand and they inform me it is a federal crime in that country to export the seeds and the punishment is severe. The plant's flower is exquisite but it does not appear that any of us will own one soon. If you find someone who has the plant I truly would like to know. So far I've found a grand total of two people who say they have the species. Steve Lucas (photopro)
I received somewhat of a scolding from a well meaning reader today who had read my request for information on this plant on this site. It appears this reader believes all the photos of the plant are fake and the plant does not exist. Perhaps. But I must put my professional background at stake here. I use the name "Photopro" as a log in because for 25 years I was just that. I'm now retired and spend my time researching plants. I created photography and advertising for quite a few extremely large corporations including major airlines, major hotels and cruise lines. I owned a company that specialized in computer photo retouching. As a result I am very familiar with PhotoShop and Illustrator and use PhotoShop almost daily. If the photos that are floating around of this plant are fake they are one of the best fakes ever created! Most users of PhotoShop know how to spot a retouched photo. There are tiny details a skilled observer can spot. I can't see any fakery on these photos. I've seen at least 8 photos from a variety of angles. The amount of time required to do such a fake photo job would be phenomenal. Likely weeks! Perhaps they are fake, but I don't believe so. And besides that, the plant is well known to a number of sources within the Thailand government as well as plant nurseries in that country. I have spent a lot of time researching this plant and trading emails with people within the government. One major factor in this reader's belief it is fake is the name Impatiens psitticana (or Impatiens psitticina) cannot be found in any of the scientific plant sources. That is a valid point. But just this morning I was researching a plant which I could not find on TROPICOS (Missouri Botanical Gardens). The plant I was researching was already published in one of MOBAT's books and I was reading Dr. Tom Croat's technical description! I have exchanged quite a few emails with Dr. Croat regarding this plant. Yet the plant was not on their official website. I run into this all the time, especially with plants from SE Asia and could name quite a few. So perhaps it is a fake. Perhaps someone just dreamed this one up. But all my research says otherwise. If you have proof it is a fake I'd love to hear from you. Steve Lucas, The Exotic Rainforest
It doesn't mean a whole heck of a lot, I realize, but I couldn't find this rascal in my 'Tropica'. Beautiful flower though. Tropica contains over 7000 photos of Tropicals. Unfortunately, no listing.
Thanks for responding. I get emails every week from someone who found a plant in Tropica or Exotica and can't find it anywhere hoping I can help find a specimen. Ususally when I see the photo, and refer it to a recognized botanist, we find out it really has another bonafide scientific name and as Dr. Tom Croat often says the name used is a "made-up" name. I chased a plant for years which in Exotica was listed as "Philodendron mandaianum". I got an email about it just this week! The plant does not exist under that name in legitimate taxonomy. Neither does one called Philodendron glycophyllum which is not a real name (the real name is Philodendron hastatum). As a result, I put absolutely no faith in this text and rely on scientific texts and sources for information. I actually sold my copy of Exotica on eBay! I double and triple verify names I find on the internet since many of them were taken from this and other unverified books. As I think I said earlier this particular impatiens is not found in many scientific texts that I can locate. There can be a great number of legitimate reasons for that happening. Here's an example, a well known "rare" fern from Thailand known as Microsorium thailandicum T. Boonkerd & Noot. is a published species. This plant is alos a Thailand species and was verified by the Thailand government in personal emails. Yet the plant cannot be found in any of the normal scientific sources such as TROPICOS (Missouri Botanical Gardens) or the International Plant Names Index. Yet, I've read the scientific description! And it is fairly well known amongst rare fern collectors. The explanation is likely it is a fairly insignificant species and as a result it slow getting picked up by the major plant publications. This morning I was trying to find more information on Anthruim salviniae. That one is not listed on TROPICOS either, but is in fact in several books published by the Missouri Botanical Gardens. Plant research can be a very difficult chore!! I run into this all the time. Steve Lucas, The Exotic Rainforest.
Thank you for responding. I've been after info on this plant for a very long time and there is little accurate info to be found. Steve Lucas, The Exotic Rainforest
I'm leaving this post up but now totally disagree with what I wrote. I not only believe it exists, I've actually read the original botanical text and seen the drawings. I've also traded emails with people who have seen the flower in person in Thailand and/or Burma. It does exist! Go to the Exotic Rainforest website (find it on any search engine) and you can read the story. The plant name is Impatiens psittacina and it is listed on the Plants Collection page. Steve Lucas
Parrot Flower from Thailand Hi, well I am lost on that flower myself, altho I havent done as much searching but I am already tired of that, so I have picture of that flower, but it is the same one that everyone has. If you can come up with that plant I probably cant afford it ha, well thanks for doing all your looking, if you should find it, I would some info on what and where it is from. Thanks
Finally, two "plant nuts" have managed to track down the story of the Rare Thailand Parrot Flower, Impatiens psittacina. It really does exist! I have included the entire story of how the plant was located including scientific proof it exists on The Exotic Rainforest website, www.ExoticRainforest.com You can read about the search, see the scientific documents and photos. It really does exist! Just go to the bottom of the Exotic Rainforest homepage and click on the link. Steve Lucas (photopro)
Don't believe it is considered an impatiens but you be the judge. Go to the web site: http://dalesdesigns.net/parrot.htm Would love to know if I can grow these in south Texas near the Gulf.
You may certainly identify the plant anyway you choose. Many people have differing opinions on the correct identification of a variety of plants. Having spent a great deal of time conversing with impatiens experts from Europe, India and SE Asia I am confident the plant is in fact Impatiens psittacina. We have even exchanged emails with people who have spoken directly with the gentleman in Thailand who took the photos posted on the net. He has a botanical background and identified the plant as I. psittacina. He even used that name in the text surrounding the photographs in English. It's just difficult to find. The plant is reported to have been on display at the botanical gardens in Shaw State Burma. I have a contact who is visiting that garden in the next week to try to get new photographs. You are not the first who has said I am wrong on this one and that is fine. But the botanical drawings from 1901, the plant's leaves and many other factors, primarily expert opinion, indicates it is infact an impatiens. One principal source of information from Britain has seen the plant and met with the photographer. That person knows his impatiens very well.
In response to your question if it can be grown in South Texas, possibly. The plant grows in a high pH soil rich in limestone. The exact pH range is yet unknown to us. I understand the soil in your area may be similar. But two growers who actually have the plant say it is very difficult to grow. It apparently requires a natural pollinator to produce seed and it is highly unlikely that pollinator from SE Asia would be present in Texas. Even the botanist who originally identified the species could not get it to produce seed. A contact in India who knows of the plant also says it is very hard to keep alive. The plant will apparently live in soil with some pH variation but the colors also vary. My opinion is it would not likely be easy to keep in Texas or elsewhere unless someone was willing to go to Burma or N. Thailand and learn all the factors of the plant's natural habitat and be willing to duplicate them exactly. The plant is found only in a very narrow geographical range, thus its rarity. I can only assume you have not read my entire account of the plant which is fairly detailed. You can find it by going to the plants collection page of my webpage and then find the plant by it's botanical name, Impatiens psittacina. The original botanical drawings and text are included. Steve Lucas www.ExoticRainforest.com
One last comment. I've been getting email from folks who are used to the normal impatiens species grown in the United States saying this plant "is not" and "cannot" be an impatiens. There are many very exotic impatiens found in SE Asia which bear no resemblance to the plants we normally grow. Some are even epiphytic and live on the sides of trees. I have managed to collect from expert rare impatiens growers in Europe a few photos of some of the odd species. If you like impatiens and would like to see some of these just send me a note. And of course, if you don't believe this one is an impatiens that is fine. But the leaves and other botanical evidence says it is in fact one of that group of plants. The original 1901 drawings also confirms its identity.
I was shocked that anyone would want to have this "parrot plant". Several years ago, I did obtain one, although the flowers were red and orange, not pink as I see in the picture. This plant was easily propogated and I did this, it was also know, as "Himilayan" something or other, as I was told by the vendor that sold it to me. This plant became so invasive in my home, because it dripped a sugar syrup that attracted ants by the thousands. I put it outside for the summer, forgot about it and lost it when the cold weather came. That was too bad I suppose, but in my area, this plant could certainly not be grown indoors, due to the ant situation here. I feel bad, but it did not have a place with me.
Cindi, the species you had would likely have been Impatiens glandulifera, or Himalayan balsam. The one being discussed in this thread is a different species. While some speculation can be made about the invasive potential of a species based on its invasive relatives, it is by no means a rule to say that relatives of invasive species will also be invasive. Considering the plant under discussion here is native to Thailand, its invasive potential in BC (and indeed most if not all of North America) is likely nil.
I very much enjoyed seeing the new parrot flower photos. I am now being accused of inventing this whole episode on a Canadian gardening site including creating the original 1901 botanical garden magazine with the drawings. If I did that I must have done a good job because someone used my "bogus" drawings back in 1901 to get the name reconginzed by the scientific community. Even a couple of the best known botanical name registrations use it! Oh well, some people wouldn't believe whales are real if they didn't have them at SeaWorld. Thanks for posting the new photos. I have been in contact with two people from India who are now trying to get new photos in Northern Thailand as well. The information I have posted came solely from researchers in Europe and Asia. The drawings I have posted were forwarded from the collection of the Royal Botanical Garden Kew in London.