The scientific name for the Parrot Flower is Impatiens psittacina. It is a balsam,and a very rare 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 and a description was published in 1901 by Joseph Dalton Hooker.
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 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".
A unique creation of nature to give a flower the resemblance of a bird. Thought parrots are green birds with red beaks but these flowers come in all sorts of colours and look quite quite real. These delicate flowers hang from their stalks, you would see pink and purple parrots.
renukakkar 22 4 2011
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