🌸Rarest Flower in India: 😮 Blooms Once in 12 years

Описание: Neelakurinji Listed As Vulnerable | IUCN Red List

🌸Rarest Flower in India: 😮 Blooms Once in 12 years #neelakurinji #flowers #levelupias #upsc #iasprep

Neelakurinji (Strobilanthes kunthiana), a flowering shrub that blooms once every 12 years, is now classified as Vulnerable (Criteria A2c) on the IUCN Red List.

The species was not previously evaluated under IUCN standards due to its unique blooming cycle and ecological challenges.

Main Threats: Major threats include habitat loss from tea and softwood plantations, urbanisation, invasive species, and climate change. Approximately 40% of its habitat has been lost.

Recently, Neelakurinji (Strobilanthes kunthiana), a mesmerising plant native to the Western Ghats of India, was classified as "Vulnerable" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, highlighting the urgent need for conservation efforts. This plant is famed for its rare and spectacular bloom, which happens only once every 12 years. During its rare blooming period, Neelakurinji transforms the landscape into a stunning purplish-blue expanse, drawing nature lovers and photographers from around the world.

It is a shrub that is found in the shola forests of the Western Ghats in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
Locally known as Kurinji, the flowers grow at an altitude of 1,300 to 2,400 metres.
Nilgiri Hills, which literally means the blue mountains, got their name from the purplish blue flowers of Neelakurinji that bloom only once in 12 years.
Kurinjimala Sanctuary of Kerala protects the Kurinji in approximately 32 km2 core habitat in Kottakamboor and Vattavada villages in Idukki district.
Kurinji Andavar temple located in Kodaikanal of Tamil Nadu dedicated to Tamil God Murugan also preserves these plants.
The Paliyan tribal people living in Tamil Nadu used it as a reference to calculate their age.
Karnataka has around 45 species of Neelakurinji and each species blooms at intervals of six, nine, 11 or 12 years.
Besides the Western Ghats, Neelakurinji is also seen in the Shevroy in the Eastern Ghats, Sanduru hills of Bellary district in Karnataka.

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.
The plant is named after the famous Kunthi River which flows through Kerala’s Silent Valley National Park, where the plant occurs abundantly
It usually grows at an elevation of 1,300-2,400m.

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