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Neelakurinji, the purplish flowering shrub, has been included on the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) official Red List of threatened species.
This is the first ever Global Red List assessment for this flagship species of the montane grasslands of southwest India
Neelakurinji
Scientific Name: Strobilanthes Kunthiana
The plant is named after the famous Kunthi River which flows through Kerala’s Silent Valley National Park, where the plant occurs abundantly
In Neelakurinji, ‘Neela’ means blue, and ‘Kurinji’ refers to the flowers.
At maturity, the light blue color of the flowers changes to purple bluish.
The flowers give the ‘Nilgiri Mountain Range’ its name.
It usually grows at an elevation of 1,300-2,400m.
All neelakurinji species are endemic to the Shola Forest of Western Ghats.
According to statistics, there are more than 40 different varieties of neelakurinji in India.
Flower Bloom takes place once in 12 years as the pollination of flowers needs a longer period.
Tamil Nadu’s ‘Paliyan’ tribe used the Neelakurinji flowers to calculate age.
There are almost 250 Neelakurinji species in the world.
The species has 34 subpopulations within 14 ecoregions of the high-altitude mountain ranges of southwest India.
There are 33 subpopulations in the Western Ghats and one in the Eastern Ghats (Yercaud, Shevaroy Hills)
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