๐บ Strobilanthes kunthiana T Anderson ex Benth.
๐ผ Family - Acanthceae
๐ผ Common name - Neelakurinji, kurunji
๐ผ Location - Munnar, Kerala
๐บ It is a bright blue bell shaped flower.
๐บThe uniqueness of the flower is that it blooms once in 12 years.
๐บ Neelakurinji Flower That Turns The Munnar Mountains in Blue Color.
๐บ Strobilanthes kunthiana is the most rigorously demostrated with documented bloomings in 1838, 1850, 1862, 1874, 1886, 1898, 1910, 1922, 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1980, 1994, 2006 & 2018, these have no match to solar cycles.
๐บThe Paliyan tribal people living in Tamil Nadu used it as a reference to calculate their age.
๐บ Medicinal uses -
1. Anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, anti-osteoarthritic, analgestic properties, anticancer activity, antioxidant, antibiofilm activity , antifungal activity.
2. It is an important shrub used in the treatment of rheumatism.
3. The roots are useful in fever, leucoderma, skin diseases, inflammations, cough, bronchitis etc.
4. The leaves and bark are useful in whooping cough, fever, bronchitis, leprosy, inflammations, fever etc.
Sugimani Marndi
Biodiversity and Conservation Lab.
Ambika Prasad Research Foundation
Cuttack, Odisha