Strobilanthes kunthiana
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Neelakurinji (
Strobilanthes kunthiana) (
Malayalam: നീലക്കുറിഞ്ഞി) (
Tamil: நீலக்குறிஞ்சி), is a
shrub that used to grow abundantly in the
shola grasslands of the
Western Ghats in
South India above 1800 metres. The
Nilgiri Hills,
which literally means the blue mountains, got their name from the
purplish blue flowers of Neelakurinji that blossoms gregariously only
once in 12 years. The
Paliyan tribal people apparently used it to calculate their age.
[1]
This plant belongs to the
genus Strobilanthes which was first scientifically described by
Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck
in the 19th century. The genus has around 250 species, of which at
least 46 are found in India. Most of these species show an unusual
flowering behaviour, varying from annual to 16-year blooming cycles; on
the national scale there is often confusion about which plant is
flowering.
[2]
Plants that bloom at long intervals like
Strobilanthes kunthiana are known as
plietesials.
Other commonly used expressions or terms which apply to part or all of
the plietesial life history include gregarious flowering,
mast seeding, and supra-annual synchronized semelparity (semelparity = monocarpy).
[3]
Description
Neelakurinji is the best known of a genus,
Strobilanthes, that has flowering cycles ranging from one to 16 years. Besides the Western Ghats, Neelakurinji is seen in the
Shevroys in the
Eastern Ghats.
It occurs at an altitude of 1300 to 2400 metres. The plant is usually
30 to 60 cm high on the hills. They can, however, grow well beyond
180 cm under congenial conditions.
[4]
Masting
Some species of
Strobilanthes including this one are examples of a mass seeding phenomenon termed as
masting[5] which can be defined as "synchronous production of seed at long intervals by a population of plants".
[6] Strict masting only occurs in species that are
monocarpic (or
semelparous) -- individuals of the species only reproduce once during their lifetime, then die,
[7] as is the case with
Strobilanthes kunthiana.
Habitat
They once used to cover the
Nilgiri Hills and
Palani Hills
like a carpet during its flowering season. Now plantations and
dwellings occupy much of their habitat. In 2006, Neelakurunji flowered
again in
Kerala and
Tamil Nadu after a gap of 12 years. Apart from Nilgris, Neelakurinji grow in grass lands of
Eravikulam, hills between Klavarai in
Tamil Nadu and Vattavada, near
Munnar in
Kerala during the season from August to December.
Conservation
Kurinjimala Sanctuary
protects the kurinji approximately 32 km² core habitat of the
endangered Neelakurinji plant in Kottakamboor and Vattavada villages in
Devakulam Taluk, Idukki district of Kerala, The Save Kurinji Campaign
Council organises campaigns and, programmes for conservation of the
Kurinji plant and its habit.
[4]
References in literature
The Kurinji flower and the associated mountainous landscape where it blooms was used in classical Tamil literature (
Sangam literature) as a symbol for the union of lovers (See
Sangam landscape). The famous poetic fragment
"Red Earth and Pouring Rain" from the
Kuruntokai makes an indirect reference to the flower.
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