Neelakurinji, the flowers that give the Nilgiris its name, are in full bloom after 12 years on the slopes of the mountain region in Udhagamandalam in Tamil Nadu.
Source: The Hindu
About Neelakurinji:
It is the purplish flowering shrub which blooms once in 12 years.
It is an endemic shrub of three-metre height, seen only in the high-altitude shola grassland ecosystems of five mountain landscapes of southwest India at an elevation of 1,340–2,600 m.
Distribution:
It 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).
It is semelparous with showy synchronous blooming and fruiting at every 12 years at the end of the life cycle, which has been reported since 1832.
Cultural significance:
Nilgiri Hills (Literally meaning the blue mountains), got their name from the blue flowers of Neelakurinji.
The Paliyan tribes (in Tamil Nadu) use it as a reference to calculate their age.
It is threatened mainly due to its fragile habitat in the montane high altitude grasslands that has been under pressure of conversion for tea and softwood plantations, and urbanization.
Its IUCN Red List status is Vulnerable (Criteria A2c).
Nilgiri Hills:
These form a part of the Western Ghats in northwestern Tamil Nadu, southern Karnataka and eastern Kerala in South India.
They connect the Western Ghats to the Eastern Ghats.
The highest peak is Doddabetta at 2,637 m.
These are separated from the Karnataka Plateau to the north by the Moyar River.
Three national parks border portions of the Nilgiri mountains.
Mudumalai National Park, which lies in the northern part of the range where Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu meet.
Mukurthi National Park, which lies in the southwest part of the range in Kerala, and includes intact shola-grassland mosaic, habitat for the Nilgiri tahr.
Silent Valley National Park which lies to the south.
These are part of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, a part of the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves.
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN):
It was created in 1948.
It has evolved into the world’s largest and most diverse environmental network.
It is composed of both government and civil society organizations.
It provides public, private and non-governmental organizations with the knowledge and tools that enable human progress, economic development and nature conservation to take place together.
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