22-May-2017: After 84 years, cobra lily blooms again

The incredibly rare Arisaema translucens, more commonly remembered as the cobra lily, was recently rediscovered in the western Nilgiris after 84 years. It was last collected in 1932.

Barely a few hundred cobra lily plants are left in the wild and they can be found only in a small area measuring less than 10 square kilometres in the Nilgiris. This is probably the only member of the Arisaema family to have a translucent spathe. The Toda tribes of the Nilgiris have an embroidery motif known as the ‘podwarshk’, which resembles it.

Once a quite common species, cobra lilies have vanished in the past decades along with the disappearance of the shola tree patches in which they were found. Prized for their beauty around the world, cobra lilies are at even greater risk of extinction from the commercial trade in exotic plants.