The Rare Thailand Parrot Flower, the original botanical drawings!

Discussion in 'Plants: Identification' started by photopro, Aug 24, 2007.

  1. photopro

    photopro Well-Known Member

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    Siloam Springs, AR, USA
    Virtually daily, I receive an email from someone asking if the "Rare Thailand Parrot Flower" is real. And the next question is almost always, "do you sell the plant?"

    The answer to the first is "yes", and the second, "no".

    The species is Impatiens psittacina and is a very rare Impatiens sp. from several small geographic regions in Asia including northern Thailand, Burma and a neighboring state in India. Some sources claim it is found in Vietnam, the Himalayas and neighboring countries but that cannot be confirmed scientifically. The Thai people know it well and sometimes send email (often difficult to read and comprehend) wondering why so many people in North America think it is a "hoax". They have a name for the plant and call it "Dork Nok Khaew". Literally translated that says: Dork or Dok = flower, Nok = bird, and Khaew = green or the word for parrot. So the translation would be Flower Bird Parrot. In addition to the scientific documents below, it has also been published in other scientific books including Flora of India, Volume 4

    I've located a total of two people who have attempted to grow the plant. One in the U.S. and one in England. Neither wishes to be identified since they don't want people climbing their fences trying to "borrow" a specimen. The reasons are explained on my website if you'd care to find out.

    The plant was originally published in 1901 in the Curtis Botanical Journal Magazine, Tab 7809 and was credited as having been discovered in the Shan States of Upper Burma in 1899 by a British officer named A.H. Hildebrand who was working on a new boundary agreement between Thailand and Burma, then known as Siam. In that publication botanist Joseph Dalton Hooker described the species as resembling a "cockatoo suspended by a string from its shoulders". (You can read Hooker's description below). Hooker lived from 1817-1911 and is the botanist of record who gave the species its name. The Latin name Hooker chose, "psittacina", fittingly means "parrot like".

    So, just in case you're one of the folks who still believes this plant is a hoax, here is the original drawing/painting by Hooker. These were copied from an original of the Curtis Botanical Journal in London. You may find them difficult to read since the type is quite frail. But this one is real. If you think these are not a good match to the photos, please remember these inks are over 100 years old. And botanists back then often drew from dried specimens.

    I've also published these pages along with numerous additional photos and a great deal more information on my own website. People from Thailand have sent more photos of the plant than I have room to publish. But next time someone tells you this "flower" is a fake, send them over to this link on UBC. It's real!

    http://www.exoticrainforest.com/Rare Thailand Parrot Flower SP.html
     

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  2. growing4it

    growing4it Active Member 10 Years

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    Location:
    vancouver to langley, bc
    This exotic parrot flower plant looks very similar to Impatiens glandulifera or policeman's helmet. This is an invasive plant here on the BC Westcoast. Lots of time and effort has been spent trying to remove policeman's helmet.
     
  3. photopro

    photopro Well-Known Member

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    They are related, but quite different. Impatiens psittacina does not "explode" as does the invasive variety. Many people, especially from Canada, have written trying to convince me they are the same plant. But close examination of the flowers makes it obvious they are different species.

    Most people are simply not aware there are more than 500 scientifically known species of [IImpatiens[/I] in the world. One popular website indicates there are only 33 species in the entire world. But a good scientific source will quickly tell you otherwise.

    Even though they are related, the one growing in Thailand, Burma and eastern India is extremely rare while the species growing in North America is quite common. So rare, it is illegal to collect or export seeds. It also grows straight up standing close to 6 feet tall and looking more like a bad garden weed than any Impatiens species most have ever seen. The flowers are produced in Asia in October and November.

    I took one of the "parrots" from Hooker's drawing and then positioned one of the photos ciculating on the internet for easier comparison. The photos that were released on the internet were taken by a Thai photographer who works with plants near the Queen Sikrit Botanical Garden in Chiang Mai, North Thailand. It took months, but a friend actually tracked him down. This species is seen in the rain forests of that region.

    Please remember, the inks in Hooker's drawing are well over 100 years old and have faded in color. Please note the "beak" of the "parrot" which can be seen in both the drawing and the photograph. In addition, the species is known to be variable and is found in several color variations just like Impatiens grown here. The curved "beak", which is the backwards pointing nectar tube at the back of the corolla (common in Impatiens), and "string from the shoulders" are there, just the way Hooker drew and described them over 100 years ago!
     

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    Last edited: Aug 25, 2007

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