Once every twelve years, Sri Lanka’s Central Highlands transform into a carpet of violet, pink, and white flowers. This is the Nelu bloom, one of the most dramatic natural events in the plant world. Nelu belongs to the Strobilanthes genus, small shrubs that grow beneath forest canopies across Sri Lanka’s Wet Zone. The country is […]
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In 2012, Sri Lanka’s Red List declared the towering rainforest tree Doona ovalifolia, known locally as Pini-Beraliya as “extinct in the wild.” The only surviving specimen stood at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Peradeniya, a solitary reminder of a species thought lost forever. That changed in 2018. A Facebook post in a medicinal plant group […]
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Sri Lanka marked a historic milestone in plant biodiversity earlier this month with the launch of “Discovery: Additions to the Flora of Ceylon”, by renowned botanist Dr. Himesh Jayasinghe. Supported by Dilmah as part of its conservation efforts, the book documents plant species never seen before, many from the endangered south-western wet zone of Sri […]
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