Strobilanthes kunthiana

This article is about the flower known as kurinji. For the Tamil poetic landscape, see Kurinji (thinai).

Strobilanthes kunthiana
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Acanthaceae
Genus: Strobilanthes
Species:
S. kunthiana
Binomial name
Strobilanthes kunthiana
(Wall. ex Nees) T. Anders. ex Benth.

Strobilanthes kunthiana, known as Kurinji or Neelakurinji in Tamil language and Malayalam and Gurige in Kannada, is a shrub of the bear's breeches family (Acanthaceae) that is found in the shola forests of the Western Ghats in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The purplish blue flower blossoms only once in 12 years, and gave the Nilgiri Mountains range its name as nil (blue) + giri (mountains). The name Neelakurinji originates from the Malayalam language neela (blue) + kurinji (flower).[2][better source needed] Of all long interval bloomers (or plietesials) Strobilanthes kunthiana is the most rigorously demonstrated, with documented bloomings in 1838, 1850, 1862, 1874, 1886, 1898, 1910, 1922, 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970,[3] 1982, 1994, 2006,[4] 2018 and 2022, these have no match to Solar cycles.

The Paliyan tribal people living in Tamil Nadu used it as a reference to calculate their age.[5] This plant flowers during September–October.

  1. ^ Amitha Bachan, K.H.; Devika, M.A. (2024). "Strobilanthes kunthiana". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2024: e.T239578615A239579829. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  2. ^ "Decline of a Montane Ecosystem". Kartik Shanker Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science. February 1997. Retrieved 5 May 2022. Strobilanthes kunthianus, a small shrub, blooms once in twelve years, covering the hillsides with bluish flowers, giving the Nilgiris its name (nil- blue; giri- hill)
  3. ^ Burley; Styles, eds. (1976). Tropical Trees. London: Academic Press. pp. 138–139.
  4. ^ Frontline periodical Volume 23 Issue 17 (August 26, 2006)
  5. ^ Mike Kielty (2008-03-04). "The Lost Gardens of the Raj". The Cambridge Student Online. Archived from the original on 2012-09-12.