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The Exotic Rainforest

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! 

If you really want to grow this species in your yard look closely at the photo above
as well as the girls standing in the "weeds" below. 
Although it has beautiful flowers this Impatiens species requires tropical heat, high humidity, lots of rain
 and is a 2 meter (6 foot) high tropical weed!
 
The Parrot Flower does not resemble the small garden Impatiens plants you grow in your yard!

Posted on this page are a few photos not easily found on the web. Some belong to the Thai tour company Tourdoi and were sent to us in several 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 psittacina, in nature.

Tourdoi is a popular SE Asian tour company serving primarily the Thai population.  The company 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 discussion boards Tourdoi began this "hoax" to sell tickets. It would seem unwise for an established business to perpetuate such a hoax since the majority of their clients are 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 text on the Tourdoi website is in Thai.  Look for the Parrot Flower photo on their "flower" page and follow the links. We have no association with Tourdoi.


Impatiens psittacina blooms in October and November.
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 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  you should know it grows to 2 meters in height (6 feet) and looks like a bad weed!  The species is not similar to the impatiens you grow in your yard but is very tropical requiring high heat and humidity.

Some apparently 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: (name removed)

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!"

The name "Rare Thailand Parrot Flower" accompanied many of the emails forwarded around the internet early in 2006.  We simply used 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. Simply an opinion, but it does appear some people are too blind to see the truth!

The Exotic Rainforest is not nor has it ever been a business.  The plants on the nearly 400 pages on this website are in a private botanical collection and are not for sale.  The purpose of the Exotic Rainforest website is to provide botanically accurate information on rare tropical plant species. Our policy about selling plants is clearly posted at the very top of the first page on this site.  The Exotic Rainforest is a privately owned botanical garden and nothing more.  We DO NOT sell plants but anyone is welcome to visit the garden free of charge!

If you refuse to accept the scientific evidence this flower is real but like Thai food ask the folks at your local Thai restaurant if they are from Chiang Mai where the plant is naturally found. If they are then ask about the Thailand Parrot Flower. We've found many Thai individuals know the flower very well! 

Despite the fact I say several times on this website we don't have the Thailand Parrot flower in our collection some folks appear to enjoy sending email asking us to sell them a Parrot Flower plant. Once again, we do not have this plant.

I gladly try to answer email questions but email asking to purchase Impatiens psittacina will be ignored.

Steve Lucas
Curator
The Exotic Rainforest

The following photos were forwarded in emails from Thailand.
These did not circulate in the email you received
but were forwarded to us privately as a result of the pages on this site.


Please note:  It is the camera angle that makes the flower appear to be a flying bird. 
 Otherwise, it is just pretty flower.









If you enjoy growing tall weeds in your yard you'll love this tropical Impatiens!