Current Affair 1:

News:

Neelakurinji (Strobilanthes kunthiana), the purplish flowering shrub, which blooms once in 12 years, has been included on the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) official Red List of threatened species.

This is the first ever Global Red List assessment for this flagship species of the montane grasslands of southwest India.

The latest global assessment confirms its threatened status in the Vulnerable (Criteria A2c) category of the IUCN.

About the shrub:

Strobilanthes kunthiana 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.

Known for their massive blooming, they impart purplish blue colours to the mountain grasslands and are popularly known as Neelakurinji (Blue Strobilanthes) blooms. They are semelparous with showy synchronous blooming and fruiting at every 12 years at the end of the life cycle, which has been reported since 1832.

Neelakurinji 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.

The species 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)

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