Rare Parrot Flower from Thailand

This is a flower from Thailand. It is also a protected species and is not allowed to be exported. This will be the only way we will be able to view this flower.

Impatiens psittacina Facts:

Size:  Plant grows to app. 6 feet (1.8) meters

Leaf : Broad, sharply pointed, to 2 1/2 inches (6 cm)

Flower size: App. 2 inches (5cm)

Stem thickness: To 1/2 inch (1.5cm)

Bloom season: October/November in Thailand

Growing conditions:  Tropical, humid, moist

 

A balsam, Impatiens psittacina, or parrot flower, is a very rare impatiens species discovered in the Shan States of Upper Burma by A H Hildebrand, a British official. Seeds of it were presented to the Royal Gardens (Kew) in 1899 and it flowered in 1900.

The specimen in Kew did not set seed but the capsules are said not to explode and disperse seeds as in many Impatiens. The species grows in the wild in a small region of north Thailand (near Chiang Mai), Burma, and in the north-east Indian state of Manipur. It is called the parrot flower because its flower bears a resemblance to a parrot in flight when viewed from the side.

The plant is erect and branches profusely and grows compactly to a height of about half a metre. Like other Impatiens species it has thick stems, the leaves have a serrulate margin. The flower is light purple and carmine red. The lateral sepals are orbicular and light green. The lower sepal is bulbous and narrows into a hooked spur tipped in carmine. The dorsal petal is orbicular and hooded while the lateral united petals are long. This species of Impatiens is known in Thai as "Dork Nok Khaew" which translates to "Flower Bird Parrot".