October 07, Colombo (LNW): Visitors to Sri Lanka’s Horton Plains National Park are being treated to a remarkable natural event, as the elusive Nelu flower has burst into bloom across parts of the highland reserve — a phenomenon believed to occur only once every twelve years.
This rare botanical spectacle, drawing the attention of nature lovers, botanists, and tourists alike, involves the mass flowering of plants from the Strobilanthes genus, a group of tropical flora renowned for their mysterious, long-interval blooming cycles.
The event, which some describe as the “silent fireworks” of the forest, has transformed stretches of the park’s rugged grasslands and misty slopes into a fleeting sea of delicate purples and blues.
The Nelu flower, while not widely known outside botanical circles, holds ecological and cultural significance in the island’s central highlands. With over 350 identified species within the Strobilanthes genus, these plants are primarily native to tropical Asia and are distinguished by their synchronised, cyclical blooming — some species flowering en masse only once every 10 to 15 years before dying off in a fascinating natural lifecycle known as monocarpic flowering.
Once every 12 years 🌸🌸🌸
— Sri Lanka Tweet 🇱🇰 (@SriLankaTweet) October 7, 2025
The rare "Nelu flowers" are now in full bloom across most parts of Horton Plains.#SriLanka #NeluBloom #LKA (Via ITN) pic.twitter.com/zoJPznS88I
