IDUKKI: If Neelakurinji was the star attraction for tourists at Munnar a couple of months ago, the crocosmia flowers, which have bloomed too late in the monsoon along a hillside near Mount Carmell Church in Munnar, are now bewitching the traveller’s eyes.
Crocosmia, also known as ‘fire king’ or ‘fire star’, usually blooms widely during mid-summer. However, since the hill station has not yet received good rainfall and with persisting moderate climate might have led to the mass blooming. The plant with sword-like leaves can grow up to 30-90cm high and the flowers can grow up to 5cm long with petals formed in a star-like shape and coloured in deep orange and yellow.
In a distant sight, the mass blooming of crocosmia flowers looks as if the hill slope has been caught on fire, hence the name ‘fire star’.
Native to the grasslands of southern and eastern Africa, ranging from South Africa to Sudan, the name Crocosmia derives from the Greek words “krokos” meaning saffron and “osme”, which means “to smell”.
The name is such that as the dried leaves of the plant, when submerged in hot water, emits a strong smell similar to saffron.