Beautiful Karvy flower[Strobilanthes callosus]

[maninair]

Dear friends,

This year is the mass blooming period of Karvy flowers [Strobilanthes callosus]in the Western Ghats, India (Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Goa) This flower is very beautiful and likened by honeybees. One of the peculiarity of these shrubs is that they mass bloom once in 8 years. The next flowering season will be on 2015-16.

In Mumbai you can see these flowers in Yewoor, Thane, The Sanjay Gandhi National Park. The Tungareshwar region, Karnala Sanctuary, Tansa etc are all close to Mumbai and well worth a visit to enjoy the mass flowering of this species.

For those who have never seen these beautiful Karvy flowers, I am attaching few photos shot at Yewoor forest, Thane, India.

[patticake]

Wow! They're gorgeous! I've never even heard of them. Thanks for giving me some beautiful flowers to start my day, and a new plant to learn about.

[Greenhouse Gal]

Thank you for the pictures and sharing their story. I had not heard of those flowers, and they are very beautiful.

[BillC]

I was intrigued by the long period of time between flowerings and very interested that 8 is one of the Fibonacci series of numbers. The series is often found in nature, eg., the number of petals on a flower, the number of seeds on a pine cone etc. Lovely flowers on the shrub; a delight to learn about flora in India.

Bill

[amersault]

if i'm not mistaken, these flowers also give an audible 'POP' when they open. wish someone could upload a YouTube link so we can all hear what that sounds like!

[solay]

What an interesting plant. Thanks for sharing it with us. How neat if it does make a sound when it opens. Imagine all the popping when they mass bloom. I'm imagining pop corn in a microwave. LOL!!! I think it's a very pretty colored flower. Also it looks so paper thin. Is bet they have a scent to them since the bees love them.

[maninair]

Thanks Patticake, BillC, Amersault, Greenhouse Gal and Solay for the interest shown in Karvy. For your information, there is one more plant in the same family known in Malayalam as Neelakurinji. Neelakurinji grows in the Western Ghats of Kerala, India and Nilgiri, Tamil Nadu, India. Neelakurinji blooms are much smaller than the more showy Karvy. Neelakurinji and other high altitude strobilanthes varieties have a longer growth cycle blooming once in 10-12 years. Please have a look at this site.

ALL ABOUT NEELA KURINJI