Species in Collection
Rainforest Tour
Orchids
The
Exotic Rainforest
Known on the Internet as
Not an orchid species!
Sometimes incorrectly spelled Impatiens psitticana, Impatiens psitticina, Impatiens psitticine
The ExoticRainforest does not sell plants despite what some websites say. We do not have this plant in our collection!
Impatiens psittacina (page 2)
Nope, it's not a hoax! But
the Thailand Parrot flower is very rare!
Impatiens psittacina IS NOT an orchid but is instead an Impatiens!
You'll learn more if you start on page 1.
Page 2
Did you miss page one of the story?
To
Impatiens psittacina Page 1
This page contains photographs that did not
circulate with the
Parrot Flower email.
Despite the scientific evidence, some still
believe
Impatiens psittacina is a hoax!
The ExoticRainforest does not sell plants.
We do not have this plant in our collection!
http://www.exoticrainforest.com/Rare%20Thailand%20Parrot%20Flower%buy20%20one%20SP.html
Impatiens
psittacina is found in North Thailand, Myanmar (formerly Burma), and one
state of extreme eastern India. Posts
can be found on the internet claiming all the photographs of
Impatiens psittacina were created on a home computer in PhotoShop.
If you believe that story
scroll down and read my explanation of how
PhotoShop works.
Posted here and at the bottom of the page are a few new photos not easily found on the web. Some belong to the Thai tour company Tourdoi and were sent to me in several different emails. Others apparently came from people who have seen the plant in the wild. Since the accompanying text was written in Thai I had no ability to understand the message. But the intent of the photographs was obvious. These photographs show the rare impatiens, Impatiens psittacina, in nature.
Tourdoi is a SE Asian tour company serving primarily the Thai population that operates tours in Thailand to see the natural exotic flowers of the country. A check of internet records shows their website receives as many as 30,000 hits per week. Some have claimed on various net boards Tourdoi began this "hoax" to sell tickets. It would seem unwise for an established business to perpetuate a hoax. Besides, most of their clients are the people who already live in Thailand.
If you would enjoy
seeing this plant along with many other exotic Thai flowers contact Tourdoi
directly for
tour information. The plant blooms in October and November.
Be prepared,
the text on their website is in Thai. Look
for the Parrot Flower
photo on their "flower" page and
follow the links. We have no association with Tourdoi.
www.tourdoi.com/general/flower/main_page.htm
For General information:
http://www.tourdoi.com/
email Tourdoi here:
tourdoi@gmail.com
When you get to this page:
http://www.tourdoi.com/general/flower/page/015.htm
You will see this photo:
The text next to that photo is in Thai. Translated, you will find the text is a planting guide to the Thai population and is reprinted from the cover of a popular Thai plant magazine.
This is the translation:
ชื่ออื่นๆ : ไม่มี Known also under other name: n/a
ชื่อวิทยาศาสตร์ : Impatiens psittacina Hk. f. Name of the flower: Impatiens psittacina Hk. f.
ลักษณะ :
Appearance: the stem of the young plant is plump and approx. 0.5-1.5 cm. The leave is green and broad, the base is a sharp pointed leaf. The rim of the leaf should be in size 2-4 cm wide and 4-6 cm long. Appearance of the blossom, red, purple, dark red, some pink. Set seedlings in a pot 2-3 cm to encourage the plant to open and grow place them wider 5-6 cm. The main blossoming time in between October and November. To mark the source (probably root): Mark the spot in the ground where to place the seed, grows to a height of 1.50 to 1.80 meters. The benefit of the the plant is its rare beauty to admire. Transplant the flower up to 23 October
More photos further down this page.
If
you believe you would like to grow this rare impatiens
in your yard
read this.
You may change your mind!
So you want to grow a 6 foot weed in your yard?
Some believe if you can't
easily buy one on the internet it must be a
hoax!
The excuse if something cannot easily be found
for sale on the net it must be a
fake is a feeble excuse
used by people too lazy
to go to the library or read a good scientific sourcebook.
One individual, along with his followers, on
a large Canadian gardening
website claimed
this
flower is a hoax created by the Exotic Rainforest
website. This individual also attempted to imply
the people
of
Arkansas
were somehow of substandard intelligence! Another claims you can
buy Impatiens psittacina on any of a dozen websites but the same
poster refused to post one single source. That thread can still be
found on the internet.
This is only one of the writer's
unedited multiple
slanderous posts:
Posted By:
Date: Monday, 9 October 2006, at 11:22 p.m.
I have wasted two days on this stupid "parrot flower" scam, and that is what it is!!!! Lucas has been on every gardening forum I can find. He has even used the UBC Botanical Gardens forum to give credibility to his bogus claims. He has even "Cut & Pasted" the flower images into the 1901 botanical reports of "an" impatiens flower. The bottom line, is that he is using the topic (and fermenting the exotic part of it) to promote his own rare tropical plant sales site, i.e. www.exoticrainforest.com. Even though, in his own cited references, "it is easily raised from seed". And, he even at his sales site refers to the plant as "known on the Internet as the rare Thailand Parrot flower". Gee, I wonder why it is referred to in that manner, might it have been his relentless references as such on every BB. I can assure everyone right now, that if the Thais thought there was anything to this, you could buy them at your corner store very quickly! When one saw the Arkansas address, it should have been a clue!!! Now, in case some of you are disappointed that you can't buy this real or imagined plant, glasshouse works out of Ohio offers an impatiens Niamniamensis African Queen which looks very similar, "like a cockatoo hanging from a string" and, undoctored. Note: I am not recommending this firm. The bottom line, in my opinion, this entire hoax, is outright Spam!
I make no claim to be a botanist or "plant expert". I enjoy researching rare plants. But I
assure you, if this is a
PhotoShop hoax
a lot of people must be spending the $900
for a copy of
PhotoShop and spending years learning to use it! The magazine owner of that
very large garden
website asked three
times in one morning I remove the quote below. Since they did not like
the negative
publicity caused when I reposted the person's quote directly from their
site along with the
name of
their website. They have since taken down his claims and his attempts to prove this flower
was created in
PhotoShop and the Exotic Rainforest website is a fraud. I have deleted all
references to the individual
by full name as well as the
name of their website. But that website
allowed his slander to remain on their board for
more than one week and apparently enjoyed all the hits his comments
caused.
If you don't believe Impatiens psittacina exists
that is your right. But I'm leaving up one
quote for those who
would still like to imply this
flower is a hoax.
It is quite real and many
in Thailand thought it was extremely funny
people in North America were claiming otherwise. If you can read
Thai, I'm told you can actually find comments about this incident on
Thai websites.
If you like Thai food ask the folks at your local Thai restaurant if
they are from Chiang Mai where
the plant is found. If they are, then ask about the Thailand
Parrot Flower. We've found many Thai individuals
know the flower very well!
Steve Lucas
The following photos were forwarded in a emails from Thailand. I cannot vouch for who owns them. These did not circulate in the email you received but were forwarded to us privately!
Please note: It is the camera angle that makes the flower appear to be a flying bird. Otherwise, it is just pretty flower.
