Poinsettia (also known as Christmas star) has come into bloom along the Munnar-Marayur road, heralding the season of good tidings. The green tea gardens look decorated in flaming red, yellow and white. Poinsettia is known for its floral display during Christmas.
The plant, native to Mexico, belongs to the Euohorbiaceae family and it spread to the U.S. and later to other countries.
It is believed that the plant was introduced to Munnar by British planters and was used to decorate their bungalows.
Photoperiodism
Its leaves turn red during winter through a process called photoperiodism. Poinsettia is a light-sensitive plant: it needs long duration of sunlight during the leafing period.
If adequate sunlight is not received, chlorophyll, which turns the leaves green, cannot be produced and the leaves turn red. Its leaves are artificially given red colour by controlling sunlight and are kept as a decorative plant inside rooms.
Though red is the common one, the poinsettia plants in Munnar are also resplendent in white, yellow and orange.
According to Josey Kurien who has studied the plant diversity on the Munnar-Chinnar stretch, many flowering trees and plants planted by the Britishers are congenial to the climate in Munnar. One could experience the seasonal changes clearly in Munnar. However, on the Kanthallur stretch , many flowering plants are native and do not grow in other climatic and soil conditions.
Though Munnar is popularly known for neelakurinji flowers, one can see different orchid species of fuschia, bougainvillea, rose and jasmine in their finest hue here.
The flowering trees Jacaranda and spathodea were planted by the Britishers and there is a pattern in their flowering seasons, he said.
Seasonal change
There is also a pattern of red-coloured flowers — from light reddish colour to the dark reddish colours in accordance with the seasonal change. As one travels on the Munnar-Marayur stretch in different seasons, the change is more visible on the flowering plants on either side of the road in the green gardens. Poinsettia and Angel’s trumpet are also part of the flowering plants that had their root in the plantation era.
