6 VARIETIES OF NEELAKURINJI IDENTIFIED IN WESTERN GHATS

As visitors keep pouring in to witness the blooming of neelakurinji on a vast area on the Kallippara hills at Santhanpara in Idukki, Kerala, an expert team has identified six varieties of the plant across the region.
The team, comprising Jomy Augustine, an expert on neelakurinji, and E. Kunjikrishnan, an expert on the Western Ghats, recently identified the plant varieties.
According to them, the flowers that are on bloom now belong to the Strobilantheskunthiana variety.

Alongside Strobilantheskunthiana, the types of neelakurinji flowers that have been identified from the hill ranges include

All these neelakurinji species are endemic to the Western Ghats and spread over nearly 200 acres of the Kallippara hills

In fact, the neelakurinji population here can be considered one of the biggest of the species after the protected areas of Munnar.
A vast variety of medicinal plants too have been spotted on the hills
The bloom reported at Kallippara belongs to the gregarious flowering (massive flowering at once) type,.
“From the Mangaladevi ranges to Coorg in Karnataka, experts have identified nearly 100 populations of the Strobilantheskunthiana variety.
To ensure protection, we need to pass a resolution in the local panchayat and submit it to the State biodiversity board. The board can also provide funds for the purpose

Neelakurinji

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.
KurinjiAndavar 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.

SOURCE: THE HINDU, THE ECONOMIC TIMES, PIB

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