Rare Parrot Flower

well look at that—it looks just like a bird!!!!! what a wonderful flower.
Reminds me of a columbine.

Thank you for sharing, Karson.

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a)

How exquisite … beautiful colors!

-- "A perfect garden is just a garden to be in-perfection. Mornings to work on it and evenings to pause and look at it." Southeast Michigan, Zone 5a/5b

The flower is outstanding,tropical areas are beautiful, its good that some things don’t have a price.
Man has destroyed so much on this earth that our intended for all to enjoy.
Thank you for sharing,Jerry

-- '"Inthedirttn" SE Tennessee,7B

Isnt that purdy !!!!

We have a flower that is similar in shape and hangs the same up at the cottage but not near as colourful

Thanks for posting

-- Central northish Ontario

That is a beautiful flower indeed but most of us can row that here in our gardens. It is simply an exotic Impatiens flower…Impatiens psittacina…Seeds can be found on many internet stores.

I know it just seems so nice to hear about a “rare” flower but isn’t it nicer now to know we can grow it :)

-- Xploreorganics, 5b Canada, LFD 06-20

I have a plant that looks exactly like that.
I have found it’s name in Canadian gardening books a few years ago.
Himalayan Impatient. This one is quite small. They do grow to be about 8-9 feet and no,I do not have any seeds, they do propagate by seeds but they survive the winters.

They are almost like a weed because the seed pods “explode” sending the seeds all over. I actually spend part of the summer “weeding” them out of certain beds.

This last picture, it is still growing and doesn’t have any flowers yet

I am going to have hundreds of them to give away this spring!!

-- Eklectic, Follow my Bliss, South East Ontario 5a

Cool flower Karson.

-- One generation plants the trees; another gets the shade; Chinese Proverb - Zone 5B

you know what always surprises me about the flowers around the world? Is when a gorgeous flower is considered a weed! (not that these are weeds…..)

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a)

They are definitely not a weed!
They are beautiful in a bunch. I have a corner of the yard where they grow freely. It is about 10’ x 20’.
Yes that’s FEET!! And it is only that because we mow around them!
I never thought of taking pictures but I will this summer.

-- Eklectic, Follow my Bliss, South East Ontario 5a

Save me some of those seeds :)

-- Xploreorganics, 5b Canada, LFD 06-20

Will do! Anybody else?
I do travel to the states quite often, so….

-- Eklectic, Follow my Bliss, South East Ontario 5a

Love to try some of them but I am in USA. Anyone in US have this or can we ship?

-- wjl - 5a Indiana

I’m in! :)

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a)

I would have guessed that plant to be Phlox Eclectic ?

-- Central northish Ontario

I grow tall Phlox…stem is similar but thats an Impatiens she has.

-- Xploreorganics, 5b Canada, LFD 06-20

“E” ... what type of light do they take … I have FULL sun and heat. I know Impatiens like partial shade. Would LOVE to try these …

-- "A perfect garden is just a garden to be in-perfection. Mornings to work on it and evenings to pause and look at it." Southeast Michigan, Zone 5a/5b

Would love some too!!!!

-- Dahlitsa

USA:
I do visit the USA quite regularly. AS well, probably could mail some from here!

X is right. it is an impatient “like” plant! It is called :Himalayan Impatient!The stem looks like bamboo except it is green and pink.\On the tallest ones the stem at the base can be up to 4” (10cm) in diameters.

So far, they have grown in full sun as well as full shade. They are very thirsty plants, so when they are in the full sun, they do need watering.
My big patch is half sun half shade, and last year I never did water it. Mind you, the soil there is kind of “mossy”.

-- Eklectic, Follow my Bliss, South East Ontario 5a

I might be able to “ship” some baby plants in Canada if we do it express delivery. For those who might be interested, let me know and when it is time, we can plan it!

-- Eklectic, Follow my Bliss, South East Ontario 5a

Thanks “E” ... you are most kind to share. :-)

-- "A perfect garden is just a garden to be in-perfection. Mornings to work on it and evenings to pause and look at it." Southeast Michigan, Zone 5a/5b

I found the comment that Impatiens psittacina could be bought on many websites of great interest. I’ve been researching this species with several botanical experts since early in 2006. So far all offers to sell this protected species on the internet have been bogus. According to the Plants of Thailand Research Unit the plant is protected and cannot be exported. I have spoken or exchanged mail with numerous botanical experts in SE Asia and no one is growing it outside Thailand, Burma and one state in eastern India. The majority of information on the web you can find is on my website www.ExoticRainforest.com If anyone has actually acquired this extremely rare species, please speak up. In two years of searching I’ve found one person in the United States that has it and one in England. Both went to Thailand and brought back seeds at the risk of imprisonment. The plant does not grow well in North America due to its need for extreme tropical conditions and no one has been successful at reproducing the plant. And the claim by some this in an invasive species Himalayan Impatiens is also incorrect. This species is extremely rare in nature and does not “explode”. That species is Impatiens glandulifera. You can find Impatiens psittacina in the scientific text Plants of India, Volume 4. There is not one single botanical garden in North America or Europe including the Royal Botanic Garden Kew that has it on display. Since the email has been floating around for 2 years now you’d think some garden would display it if it was so easily purchased. Sorry, but this one is botanically truly rare.

-- Steve Lucas

beautiful

-- http://woodsongsfurniture.com

hmmm….I just checked my links (about 11 of them) for the on-line sources selling the seed and all sites are down. I have read several of your posts ExoticRainforest letting people know that it is illegal to posess the seeds. I do know someone growing an impatiens with a close likeness of Impatiens psittacina but I could not give up a name for someone innocently growing an Impatiens that could possible be of another variety. Since many Impatiens carry that “exotic look” I guess it is best to grow a more common variety.

-- Xploreorganics, 5b Canada, LFD 06-20

And the claim by some this in an invasive species Himalayan Impatiens is also incorrect.
Well, it is a good thing that claim was never made here!
And for those of you who would like some “Himalayans Impatients”, they will start spouting all over as soon as the weather warms up, please let me know so that we can make arrangements for shipping.

-- Eklectic, Follow my Bliss, South East Ontario 5a

About a year and one half ago another Canadian garden site had 9 or 10 people claiming I had personally “created” the Rare Thailand Parrot Flower. They also said I took the original papers of botanist Edward Dalton Hooker and forged the documents found on my website. I threatened to sue the website owner which was a magazine and they took all the claims down. The entire story they were making up was the “fraud” they claimed I had created.

On that site they kept saying it was nothing more than Impatiens gladulifera and I had worked it up in PhotoShop to look like a flying bird. Impatiens gladulifera is common in Canada and is both wild and invasive. I’ve traded quite a bit of mail with the Plants of Thailand Research Unit and all available information from them as well as one experienced grower of rare Impatiens species in England indicates it is next to impossible to grow Impatiens psittacina in our North American environment. The plant must have consistent warm, humid, tropical conditions with lots of rain. According to one authority in Europe, Florida is both too cool and too dry to keep the plant alive.

I recently had a fellow send me an email saying he had acquired a “bag” of seeds and would be mailing me some. They never arrived. I have met personally with the owners of a large rare plant nursery from Thailand and they have seen and grown the plant in Thailand but said they would never chance trying to smuggle seeds out of the country due to the extreme penalties. A lady who works in a local Thai restaurant also has seen the plant, so it does exist and looks just like the photos. However, the photographic angle the photographer chose makes it look more like a flying bird. And that photographer works with the Queen Sikrit Botanical Garden near Chiang Mai North, Thailand.

I’d love to grow it and have promised seeds to two major U.S. botanical gardens if I am ever able to locate any. But I have zero hope that will happen. I am aware of several botanical gardens who have tried to acquire seeds for exhibit purposes, and that would be legal. None have been able to find any so far.

-- Steve Lucas

One other thing. In Thailand the plant grows to almost 2 meters tall. It looks like a very bad weed! Impatiens psittacina is not the beautiful little plant people grow in their yards in North America.

-- Steve Lucas

I didn’t know there was such “intrigue” around flowers!

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a)

Odd thing is..If this “parrot flower” is indeed an Impatiens as the name suggests Impatiens Psittacina then it would have to “spit” seeds or perhaps it is something of another species. I have yet to see a photo of the seed pod that confirms this. Impatiens got their name from a Latin word that actually describes the way they shoot out their seeds when their seed pods open. So an Impatiens that does not shoot seeds is perhaps not an impatiens at all.

Impatiens have commercial importance as garden plants with a yearly business volume of about US $230 million…So I can see if there was great advertising about a rare Impatiens and someone were to aquire these seeds and become a lone breeder then they could be a very rich person.

I would be happy just to grow a variety of “common” impatiens and perhaps the nature of cross-polination will provide one with similar coloration. I know a friend of mine has a very tall variety growing in her garden that also has extremely and equally beautiful flowers without having to worry about “smuggled” plant material.

I would love some of your seeds Eklectic when they are ready…rare or not they are still very pretty.

-- Xploreorganics, 5b Canada, LFD 06-20

Hi X,
I just went and looked and guess what…. they are coming up already, no true leaves yet, but I should be able to send you some “live plants” within a week or so, if you want to try it this way!

-- Eklectic, Follow my Bliss, South East Ontario 5a

If you wish to both see botanist Edward Dalton Hooker’s drawings and read his scientific description you can find it on the main page of my website describing the species. Just scroll to the bottom of the page.

Go to www.ExoticRainforest.com, scroll down a short bit and find the link that leads you to the Rare Thailand Parrot Flower. Click that link and scroll to the bottom of the page. Hooker posted his description with a detailed drawing in 1901 and we acquired a copy from the Royal Botanic Garden Kew in London.

If you doubt the species is an Impatiens I would suggest you write to the Kew and suggest they recheck their facts. It is a botanically published species and can be found in at least four scientific journals I am aware of. You can go to most any large library and find a copy of Plants of India, Volume 4. It is in the book. You can also find it on the USDA website. Not all Impatiens spew seeds. That can be verified via several botanical sites as well.

-- Steve Lucas

Here is a link to the USDA saying it is an Impatiens. Please note this link says it is found only in North Thailand, Myanmar, and India (one state). Myanmar was formerly known as Burma.

http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?431382

I just got a notice my web server is down for maintenance so you may not be able to view the page for awhile. I would be glad to email the actual paintings and the description to anyone. Just send me a note at Steve@ExoticRainforest.com

-- Steve Lucas

If you go to my website you can find a link near the top of the Impatiens psittacina page to an article published by the Royal Botanic Garden Kew and written by British Impatiens expert Ray Morgan. In that article you will find a photo of Impatiens psittacina and a brief description. Ray appears to believe the specimen is an Impatiens as well and he is considered the world’s top Impatiens expert. I have corresponded with Ray and he has traveled to North Thailand and seen the plant in person.

I realize there are many people who doubt this plant is rare or an Impatiens. Science appears to say otherwise.

www.ExoticRainforest.com

-- Steve Lucas

Just managed to find the link to Ray Morgan’s article. It was published by the Royal Horticultural Society. Click on the link and scroll down to find Ray’s article entitled Parrot Bill Impatiens. Click the link and you’ll find the article. Impatiens psittacina is not the main subject but only one plant of interest. Scroll through the article and you’ll find it.

http://www.rhs.org.uk/Learning/Publications/plantsman/0907/plantsmansep2007.htm

If you do a search of the net for Ray Morgan with the word Impatiens you’ll find he is considered the world’s top expert on the subject and has written multiple books.

Here is another scientific link to the International Plant Names Index, sponsored by the Kew. The also say it is an Impatiens:

http://www.ipni.org/ipni/idPlantNameSearch.do?id=374288-1&show_history=false&output_format=normal

-- Steve Lucas

Just one more and I’ll quit. You won’t be able to read this one unless you speak Thai but you can read the word Impatiens psittacina at the very top of the page next to a photo of the Parrot Flower.
http://www.tourdoi.com/general/flower/page/015.htm

There are several sections of photos of natural species from Thailand and you’ll find several photos of Impatiens psittacina. The site is owned by a company called Tourdoi and they take people on tours to see the plant in nature. It only blooms in November and December so if you sign up for a tour, plan accordingly.

The Plants of Thailand Research Unit, which is a government sponsored agency that records plants in the country, gave me the link.

-- Steve Lucas

here is a carpet of seedling. On some of them you can see the tr leaves starting.
In a week or so, I will start thinning them.

-- Eklectic, Follow my Bliss, South East Ontario 5a