| Strobilanthes kunthiana | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Asterids |
| Order: | Lamiales |
| Family: | Acanthaceae |
| Genus: | Strobilanthes |
| Species: | S. kunthiana |
| Binomial name | |
| Strobilanthes kunthiana (Nees) T. Anderson |
|
Neelakurinji (Strobilanthes kunthiana) (Tamil: நீலக்குறிஞ்சி), (Malayalam: നീലക്കുറിഞ്ഞി) 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 Nees 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, the term plietesial has been used in reference to perennial monocarpic plants “of the kind most often met with in the Strobilanthinae” (a subtribe of Acanthaceae containing Strobilanthes and allied genera) that usually grow gregariously, flower simultaneously following a long interval, set seed, and die. 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].
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Neelakurinji is the best known of a genus, Strobilanthes, that has flowering cycles ranging from one to 16 years. Plants that bloom at long intervals like kurinji are called plietesials. 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]
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]
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 Tamil Nadu and Kerala 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. Kurinji has again flowered in some parts of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
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]
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.