Question

Strobilanthes kunthiana flowers once in
A. 5 years
B. 12 years
C. 20 years
D. 50 years

Answer 1

Hint: Strobilanthes kunthiana or the Neelakurinji is a member of the Acanthaceae family. It is a shrub found in the forests of the Western Ghats in the southern part of India. These plants belong to a category called long interval bloomers, meaning that they produce flowers in long intervals.

Complete answer: Strobilanthes kunthiana or Neelakurinji are present on the Wester Ghats of South India. The Strobilanthes species have an interesting flowering behavior – their blooming cycles varies from 1 to 16 years.
Strobilanthes kunthiana blooms once in every 12 years. It has bloomed in the following years: 1838, 1850, 1862, 1874, 1886, 1898, 1910, 1922, 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006 and 2018.
Therefore, option (b) is correct.

Additional Information: Strobilanthes kunthiana grow on the Western Ghats of southern India. Due to their brilliant blue colour, the Nilgiri hills have got their name, which means the Blue mountains. These flowers are called Plietesials, that is they bloom once in long intervals. There are other species of Strobilanthes family that bloom once in 7 years and die. However, their seeds sprout and continue to grow.

Note: Strobilanthes kunthiana or Neelakurinji is a long interval bloomers are found in the Nilgiri hills of the Western Ghats. These are shrubs with purple blue colour flowers. Habitat degradation of this plant species has caused reduction in their population.