Neelakurinji- Blue Flower Which Blossoms Only Once In 12 Years
Introduction
Strobilanthes Kunthiana, is a shrub that grows in the shola woods of the Western Ghats in Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu. It is also known as Kurinji or Neelakurinji in Malayalam and Tamil, and Gurige in Kannada. The Nilgiri Mountains range gets its name from the purplish blue flower, which blooms only once every 12 years, and the Malayalam words neela (blue) and Kurinji (flower).
With documented bloomings in 1838, 1850, 1862, 1874, 1886, 1898, 1910, 1922, 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970,1982, 1994, 2006, and 2018, Strobilanthes kunthiana is the most thoroughly demonstrated and these have no match to Solar cycles. It served as a guide for the tribal Paliyan people of Tamil Nadu when figuring out their ages. This plant blooms in September to October.
Description
At elevations ranging from 1300 to 2400 meters, kurinji grows. Typically, the plant is 30 to 60 centimeters tall. Yet, in favorable conditions, they can reach heights much beyond 180 cm.
The kurinji plant is a member of the Strobilanthes genus, which was originally scientifically described in the 19th century by Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck. There are over 250 species in the genus, at least 46 of which are found in India. The majority of these species exhibit atypical flowering behavior, with blooming periods ranging from yearly to sixteen years.
Plietesials are plants that bloom at irregular intervals, such as Strobilanthes kunthiana. Gregarious flowering, mast seeding, and supra-annual synchronized semelparity (semelparity = monocarpy) are other often used idioms or concepts that refer to all or part of the plietesial life history.
Strobilanthes cuspidatus, among other kurinji species, only blooms once every seven years before passing away. Thereafter, their seeds germinate, continuing the cycle of life and death. Masting can be defined as "synchronous generation of seed at lengthy intervals by a population of plants," and several species of Strobilanthes are instances of this phenomenon. Only monocarpic (or semelparous) species, such as Strobilanthes kunthiana, exhibit strict masting, in which individuals reproduce only once during their lifetime before passing away.
During its flowering season, Habitat Kurinji once covered the Anamalai Hills, Cardamom Hills, Nilgiri Hills, Palani Hills, Kudremukh, and Bababudangiri like a carpet. Most of their natural habitat is now occupied by crops and homes. In the Chikkamagaluru district of Karnataka, Neelakurinji also flowered in the Chandra Drona Hill Ranges (Bababudan Giri) in 2006.
A carpet of bluish purple flowers blanketed the entirety of Bababudangiri Hills (Datta Peeta). Neelakurinji can also be found in the Sanduru hills in the Bellary district of Karnataka's Eastern Ghats, in addition to the Western Ghats. In the Bellary area of Sanduru in 2017, Neelakurinji flowers were in bloom on the hills behind the Kumaraswamy temple.
Conservation
The kurinji is protected in its roughly 32 kmsq. Core habitat in the villages of Kottakamboor and Vattavada around the Keralan Idukki district by the Kurinjimala Sanctuary. The Kurinji Plant and Its Habit are protected through initiatives and activities run by the Preserve Kurinji Campaign Council. Strobilanthes plants are also preserved at the Murugan-dedicated Kurinji Andavar temple in Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu.
References In Literature
In Tamil literature known as Sangam, the term "Kurinji flower" refers to the mountainous region where it grows. In Clare Flynn's historical novel Kurinji Flowers, the neelakurinji serves as the setting for a tragic love story set in 1940s India.
On his Independence Day speech in 2018, while the neelakurinji was in bloom, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also made mention of the plant.