This is a purplish-blue wild Karvy flower, which blooms once every eight years, now seen at Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Borivali, Mumbai.

It is known as Strobilanthes Callosa in the Botanists, but for the common man, it is Karvy. The purplish blue flower with a tinge of pink is in the bloom right now and it is a dazzling sight. What makes it even more beautiful is the fact that it blooms only once in eight years.

According to Kedar Gore, education officer of World Wide Fund for nature,Khandala is already full of Karvy buds. Last year there was mass flowering in Bhimashankar and Malshej, beyond Kalyan.Now the nature lovers are looking forward to the flowers blooming in Mumbai.

The plant was first discovered by one Nees- a resident britisher of Mumbai in the last century. The Karvy plant grows wild around Mumbai, Madhya Pradesh, Parts of Gujarat and in large areas of Konkan and North Kannara Ghats,

The life history of Karvy plants is interesting. Each year the plant comes alive with the advent of Monsoon,and once the rains are over, what is left behind is dry and dead-looking stems.This pattern repeats itself for seven years. In the eighth yar, the plant explodes into mass flowering.

The Karvy plant has many uses as well. The Karvy leaves are crushed and the juice is a sure cure for stomach ailments, The leaves and the stems are also used for thatched roofs after the season is over.Karvy honey is also considered a rarity says J.S. Serrao, a naturalist. The nearest place where a Mumbaikar can get bewitched by the beauty of the Karvy bloom is at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park.

Courtesy --- Times of India Supplement " Bombay Times " dated 24-7-2000.