• Western Ghats supports the life of 7,402 species of flowering plants, 1,814 species of non-flowering plants, 139 mammal species, 508 bird species, 179 amphibian species, 6000 insects species and 290 freshwater fish species.
• Older than the Himalayas and well known for its rich and unique flora and fauna, the Western Ghats has figured in Lonely Planet’s top five “2018 Best in Asia” list, a collection of 10 of the best destinations to visit in the continent for the year.
• One of the Hottest Biodiversity Hotspots and UNESCO World Heritage site, the Western Ghats has come fourth in the list of the Lonely Planet, considered a Bible by travellers worldwide.
• Neelakurinji (Strobilanthes kunthiana), which has started blooming after 12 years in the famed hill station of Munnar has found mention in report.
• Traversing Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra, these rugged hills are UNESCO listed as one of the top spots for biodiversity in the world, protecting everything from wild elephants and tigers to the neelakurinji flower, which blooms only once every 12 years and will be painting the hills in purple livery from August to October 2018.

• Kurinji or Neelakurinji (Strobilanthes kunthianus) is a shrub that is found in the shola forests of the Western Ghats in South India.
• Besides the Western Ghats, Neelakurinji is also seen in the Shevroys in the Eastern Ghats, Annamalai hills Idukki district and Agali hills in Palakkad in Kerala and Sandur hills of Bellary district in Karnataka.
• Nilgiri Hills, which literally means the blue mountains, got their name from the purplish-blue flowers of Neelakurinji that blossoms only once in 12 years.
• Some Kurinji flowers bloom once every seven years, and then die.
• Plants that bloom at long intervals like Strobilanthes kunthianus are known as plietesials.
• The Paliyan tribal people living in Tamil Nadu used it as a reference to calculate their age.

The Hindu