photos of Rare Thailand Parrot Flower, Exotic Rainforest rare tropical plants

Nope, it's not a hoax! But it is very rare!
And it IS NOT an Orchid!
You'll learn more if you start on 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!

Impatiens psittacina, the Rare Thailand Parrot Flower, looks like a bad weed.

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.

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.

ชื่ออื่นๆ : ไม่มี Known also under other name: n/a

ชื่อวิทยาศาสตร์ : Impatiens psittacina Hk. f. Name of the flower: Impatiens psittacina Hk. f.

ลักษณะ :

ÕÂ¹¹¡á¡éÇ à·ÕÂ¹¹¡á¡éÇ ª×èÍÍ×è¹æ : äÁèÁÕ ª×èÍÇÔ·ÂÒÈÒÊµÃì : Impatiens psittacina Hk. f.

ÅÑ¡É³Ð : à»ç¹¾×ªÅéÁÅØ¡ ÅÓµé¹ÍÇº¹éÓ ÊÙ§ 0.5-1.5 àÁµÃ ãºà´ÕèÂÇÃÙ»ä¢è¡ÇéÒ§ â¤¹ãºÁ¹
»ÅÒÂãºáËÅÁ ¢Íºãº¨Ñ¡ ¢¹Ò´¡ÇéÒ§ 2-4 «Á. ÂÒÇ 4-6 «Á.

ÅÑ¡É³Ð´Í¡ ÊÕá´§ÁèÇ§á¡Áá´§ºÒ§ÊèÇ¹à»ç¹ÊÕªÁ¾Ù ÍÍ¡à´ÕèÂÇµÒÁ¡éÒ¹ãº ËÃ×Í»ÅÒÂÂÍ´ ¢¹Ò´´Í¡¡ÇéÒ§ 2-3 «Á. ÂÒÇ»ÃÐÁÒ³ 5-6 «Á. ¡ÅÕºÃÍ§´Í¡ÃÙ»¶éÇÂ»Ò¡ºÒ¹ ÅÑ¡É³Ð´Í¡´Ñ§ã¹ÀÒ¾

ªèÇ§àÇÅÒÍÍ¡´Í¡ µ.¤. - ¾.Â.

áËÅè§·Õè¾º : ¢Öé¹µÒÁÃÍÂáµ¡¢Í§à¢ÒËÔ¹»Ù·ÕèÁÕ¡ÒÃÊÐÊÁ¢Í§ÍÔ¹·ÃÕÂìÊÒÃ ¾º·Õè¤ÇÒÁÊÙ§ 1,500 -1,800 àÁµÃ

»ÃÐâÂª¹ì à»ç¹¾×ªËÒÂÒ¡ ÊÇÂ§ÒÁ ä´éªÁáÅéÇª×è¹ã¨

´Í¡¹Õé¶èÒÂ·Õè ´ÍÂËÅÇ§àªÕÂ§´ÒÇ 23 µ.¤.

ªÁÀÒ¾·ÃÔ»¢Öé¹´ÍÂ ªÁ´Í¡äÁéà©¾ÒÐ¶Ôè¹ ÊÇÂ¤ÃÑº

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

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 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 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!

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! 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 the 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
know all about the flower!

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 (name removed) Botanical Gardens forum, to give credability 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!

To clarify:
The name "Rare Thailand Parrot Flower" accompanied many of the emails forwarded around the internet early in 2006. I simply elected to use the name as it was stated in the email. I first received the email sometime in March or April of 2006. This person also posted another note on the same garden bulletin board implying Tourdoi may have created this "hoax" to get people to take a fraudulent tour. The purpose of the Exotic Rainforest website is to provide information. Our policy about selling plants is clearly posted at several locations on this website. We sell very few. You can read our policy here: What we do and do not offer.

Despite the fact I say several times on this website I don't have the species, some folks appear to enjoy sending email asking us to sell them a Parrot Flower plant. Sorry, we do not have this plant. I gladly try to answer email questions but email asking to buy Impatiens psittacina will be ignored.

Steve Lucas

The Exotic Rainforest is a private botanical garden in NW Arkansas.
It is a rare plant collection.

Some notes about PhotoShop:
In case you are not aware, you cannot "create" a photograph in PhotoShop. It can easily take many months to learn to use the program correctly and it is very expensive to purchase. You can only manipulate a photo in PhotoShop. Ask Adobe! They created PhotoShop. You have to begin with a photograph! Where did all these photographic angles come from? What was the base for the manipulation? The manipulations required to create all these angles would take a major amount of time and effort not counting talent.

The following photos were forwarded in an email from Thailand. I cannot vouch for who owns the photographs. These did not circulate in the email you likely received!
Please note: It is the camera angle that makes the flower appear to be a flying bird. Otherwise, it is just pretty flower.