Strobilanthes

Strobilanthes is a genus consisting of 350 species of flowering plants in the family of Acanthaceae mostly limited to tropical Asia and Madagascar. Four species of native Strobilanthes – S.homotropa, S.perrotettiana, S.wightiana and S.kunthiana – were discovered in large numbers in one region in upper Niligiris in 2011. In 2020, while ascertaining the health of the ecosystem in the location, it was found that S.perrotettiana became locally extinct. The rest of the three species witnessed a 90% population decline.