Exacum bicolor may just be a technical name, but ‘Kannamthali’ for Keralites means the fragrance of verdant villages and joys of simple life. It brings sweet memories of times spent in the lap of nature. The name also finds frequent space in Malayalam songs and poems.
Exacum bicolour is a member of the Gentianacae family, which is comparatively a low-represented family in Kerala. The beauty of the flower lies in its white petals with violet tips and is enhanced by the long, curved prominent yellow stamens.
The plant, which is endemic to Peninsular India and the State, was turning an endangered species and its loss of habitat was estimated as 50% over a period of 10 years. Till the time Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) began its ex-situ conservation of this beautiful gentian.
Now after about a decade of the domestication of the plant, the scene is much greener.
Being gentian member, Exacum bicolour was very difficult to get domesticated. Hence the project aimed at domestication through seeds.
In its natural habitat, the plant grows from dry stumps of the previous year during the onset of southwest monsoon in June and starts flowering during August–September and dries out in December with the formation of capsules.
Like in the case of any wild plant that is to be popularised as a garden plant, the Exacum bicolour’s flowering behaviour in different seasons was studied.
The studies found that even though numerous minute seeds are produced per plant every year, it does not spread out to the places even close to it.
The seeds are also very small. Special care was hence taken for its germination and soon it was found that with proper nutrition, the plant could be grown in any season. The domesticated plants also performed better than the ones that seasonally grow, says Sreelatha U of the Floriculture & Landscaping Department of the College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, who is conducting the project.
This entire project further brought to focus the fragility of the ecosystem in the hillocks, which are increasingly at the mercy of indiscriminate human interventions, Dr. Sreelatha says.
Also, more than 80% of the hillocks in Kerala are in private possession, which further accelerates the destruction process. “Safeguarding any hillock flora hence emphasizes the need for ex situ conservation” she says.