Shirui Lily (Lilium mackliniae Sealy) locally known as Kashong Timrawon, is a rare bell-shaped flower with bluish-pink petals, showing seven colours under a microscope. Every year, between May 15 and June 5, tourists throng to its native habitat to see the beautiful flowers growing in Shirui Hills, located in Shirui Village in Ukhrul district of Manipur. It’s the peak season of this flower.
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English Botanist Dr Frank Kingdon Ward from the New York Botanical Society first discovered the flower in 1946 and named it after his wife, Jean Macklin. This flower won the prestigious merit award in the Chelsea Flower Show organised by the Royal Horticulture Society, London. In 1989, it was declared the State Flower of Manipur.
What remains noteworthy is the belief that this bulbous plant can only be grown in Shirui Hills, because attempts to plant it elsewhere by the British never succeeded.
According to legends of the Tangkhul Naga community, a princess lies buried in Shirui Hills, waiting for her lover to return. The flower comes from the soil where the princess was buried. Several mythologies have been passed down over generations; tales told by the indigenous people of Ukhrul with much love and awe for the flower online.
The pride of Manipur now faces possible extinction and has been categorised as an ‘endangered species’ with its genetic resources getting eroded over time.
The plant, which was reported to be 5 ft tall in 1948, has exhibited progressive dwarfing over the years, dropping to 1-3 ft in 2011 (Meitei, 2011) to decrease further to the average plant height of 0.262–0.328 ft. As per a field study by scientists in December 2015, its maximum height is now limited to 0.984 ft.
Even its area of distribution has been altered significantly over the years. Previously, it grew abundantly in the Shirui Hill range encompassing a 250-square km area from the first peak onwards, but since 2011, it has been growing only from the third peak onwards. Moreover, since 2015, the Shirui Lily can be found growing only in the seventh peak of the Shirui Hills.
What is behind this decline and destruction?
Shirui Village, 16 km from Ukhrul District Headquarters in Manipur.
According to research carried out under the Institute of Bioresources and Sustainable Development Takyelpat, Imphal, (Tabitha Langhu, Nandeibam Samarjit Singh and Huidrom Sunitibala Devi. 2016), the decline of the Shirui Lily has been attributed to climate change, environmental degradation, irresponsible tourism, and incorrect conservation approaches like forest fires, coupled with the invasion of the habitat by a dwarf bamboo species ‘Machun’.
Dr Tabitha Langhu who now works for the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Imphal, points out that the Shirui Lily grows best in the peak of the Shirui Hills as it requires a cold climate and high velocity of the wind. However, due to climate change, the place is much warmer now.
Even the approach employed by the local community to conserve the flower through lighting forest fires, based on their belief that it will increase the humus of the soil, reduce the growth of invasive species in the habitat, to help Shirui Lily to flourish are incorrect and harmful practices. These forest fires burn down the seeds and the fragile seedlings, thereby decreasing the population and retarding the growth of the plant, besides raising the temperature of the habitat.
The scientists who have spent several years in research on Shirui Lily explain how tourists stamp on the plant, pluck the flowers or even uproot them which ultimately reduces the regeneration of the species besides littering the ecosystem with plastic bottles, disposable cups and plates and polluting the environment.
In spite of such inroads in research, no significant coordinated efforts are visible to link these findings to how things stand on ground. The villagers seem to be doing what they believe is good, while the researchers are working on their own.
source - https://www.thebetterindia.com/205692/shirui-lily-manipur-beauty-tourist-spots-state-flower-extinction-nature-development-india/
If you have a green thumb and are passionate about nurturing your plants, check out garden accessories here.
English Botanist Dr Frank Kingdon Ward from the New York Botanical Society first discovered the flower in 1946 and named it after his wife, Jean Macklin. This flower won the prestigious merit award in the Chelsea Flower Show organised by the Royal Horticulture Society, London. In 1989, it was declared the State Flower of Manipur.
What remains noteworthy is the belief that this bulbous plant can only be grown in Shirui Hills, because attempts to plant it elsewhere by the British never succeeded.
According to legends of the Tangkhul Naga community, a princess lies buried in Shirui Hills, waiting for her lover to return. The flower comes from the soil where the princess was buried. Several mythologies have been passed down over generations; tales told by the indigenous people of Ukhrul with much love and awe for the flower online.
The pride of Manipur now faces possible extinction and has been categorised as an ‘endangered species’ with its genetic resources getting eroded over time.
The plant, which was reported to be 5 ft tall in 1948, has exhibited progressive dwarfing over the years, dropping to 1-3 ft in 2011 (Meitei, 2011) to decrease further to the average plant height of 0.262–0.328 ft. As per a field study by scientists in December 2015, its maximum height is now limited to 0.984 ft.
Even its area of distribution has been altered significantly over the years. Previously, it grew abundantly in the Shirui Hill range encompassing a 250-square km area from the first peak onwards, but since 2011, it has been growing only from the third peak onwards. Moreover, since 2015, the Shirui Lily can be found growing only in the seventh peak of the Shirui Hills.
What is behind this decline and destruction?
Shirui Village, 16 km from Ukhrul District Headquarters in Manipur.
According to research carried out under the Institute of Bioresources and Sustainable Development Takyelpat, Imphal, (Tabitha Langhu, Nandeibam Samarjit Singh and Huidrom Sunitibala Devi. 2016), the decline of the Shirui Lily has been attributed to climate change, environmental degradation, irresponsible tourism, and incorrect conservation approaches like forest fires, coupled with the invasion of the habitat by a dwarf bamboo species ‘Machun’.
Dr Tabitha Langhu who now works for the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Imphal, points out that the Shirui Lily grows best in the peak of the Shirui Hills as it requires a cold climate and high velocity of the wind. However, due to climate change, the place is much warmer now.
Even the approach employed by the local community to conserve the flower through lighting forest fires, based on their belief that it will increase the humus of the soil, reduce the growth of invasive species in the habitat, to help Shirui Lily to flourish are incorrect and harmful practices. These forest fires burn down the seeds and the fragile seedlings, thereby decreasing the population and retarding the growth of the plant, besides raising the temperature of the habitat.
The scientists who have spent several years in research on Shirui Lily explain how tourists stamp on the plant, pluck the flowers or even uproot them which ultimately reduces the regeneration of the species besides littering the ecosystem with plastic bottles, disposable cups and plates and polluting the environment.
In spite of such inroads in research, no significant coordinated efforts are visible to link these findings to how things stand on ground. The villagers seem to be doing what they believe is good, while the researchers are working on their own.
source - https://www.thebetterindia.com/205692/shirui-lily-manipur-beauty-tourist-spots-state-flower-extinction-nature-development-india/
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