Strobilanthes kunthiana

Neelakurinji, Kurinji

Message of the Flower

Power of Perfect Endurance

The Mother’s Comment

Manifests rarely, but is very precious.

Spiritual Message by the Mother/ Quotes by Sri Aurobindo

Let endurance be your watchword: teach the life-force in you—your vital being—not to complain but to put up with all the conditions necessary for great achievement. The body is a very enduring servant, it bears the stress of circumstance tamely like a beast of burden. It is the vital being that is always grumbling and uneasy. The slavery and torture to which it subjects the physical is almost incalculable. How it twists and deforms the poor body to its own fads and fancies, irrationally demanding that everything should be shaped according to its whimsicality! But the very essence of endurance is that the vital should learn to give up its capricious likes and dislikes and preserve an equanimity in the midst of the most trying conditions.

The Mother, Questions and Answers 1929 - 1931: Endurance - the Vital's Hunger for Praise - Signs of the Converted Vital

Nothing great is ever accomplished without endurance.

The Mother, Questions and Answers 1929 - 1931: Endurance - the Vital's Hunger for Praise - Signs of the Converted Vital

Colour

Bluish-violet

Family

Acanthaceae

Cultivars

None known, as the plant is famous for its natural phenomena of mass blooming

Person who named the flower

Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck

Flower Size

About 0.5 inches in diameter

Flower Texture

Soft, slightly hairy

Number of Petals

Five

Floral Symmetry

Bilateral

Fragrance of Flower

Mildly fragrant

Leaf Texture

Hairy, rough

Leaf Arrangement

Opposite

Leaf Color

Green, sometimes purplish tinge under full sunlight

Structural Variation (Shrub or Tree)

Shrub

Life Cycle

Monocarpic perennial (blooms once in its lifetime)

Blooming Period

Every 12 years, last in 2018

Climate

Subtropical highland

Water Requirements

Moderate, well-drained soil

Soil Type

Well-drained red lateritic or loamy

Temperature Ranges

Cool climates, not heat tolerant

Sun or Shade

Full sun to partial shade

Susceptibility to Insects and Diseases

Generally pest-resistant

Pollinators

Bees, butterflies

Habitat

High altitude shola forests of the Western Ghats, India

Role in the Ecosystem

Supports a range of pollinators, adds to biodiversity

Quotations

None noted

Ornamental

Valued for unique blooming and beauty

Uses in Other Aspects of Life

Ecotourism attraction during blooming periods

Endangered Status

Not endangered, but habitat is vulnerable