Neelakurinji’ Blooms

Context: The Neelakurinji flowers have turned the green patches of Bababudangiri range of the Western Ghats (Chandradrona Mountains) into purple-blue.

About Neelakurinji Flowers:

• It is a shrub of the Acanthaceae family that famously blooms once every 12 years.
• It is endemic to Western Ghats, covering the slopes of Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
• Their scientific name is ‘Strobilanthes Kunthiana’,
• Strobilanthes is a genus of about 350 species of flowering plants in the family Acanthaceae, mostly native to tropical Asia and Madagascar.
• The Topli Karvy (Strobilanthes sessilis), the Karvy (Strobilanthes callosa) and the Kurinji (Strobilanthes kunthiana), all belong to the Strobilanthes genus.
• The Topli Karvy is found more in the northern section of the Western Ghats in Maharashtra.
• The Karvy grows on the steepest cliffs where trees can’t grow.
• They are seen mostly on the Nilgiri hills, which even got its name from the flowers — ‘Neela’, meaning blue and ‘Kurinji’, referring to the flowers.

Source: Indian Express