Nature · Seasons · 10 min read

A Calendar of Colour: The Flowering Trees of Munnar Through the Seasons

Purple jacarandas in exam season, scarlet coral trees in the cardamom, golden silver oaks above the tea, crimson rhododendrons on the grasslands and blue kurinji on the hills. Munnar's year is marked by its flowering trees. Which ones bloom when, where they came from, and the stories behind them.

By GK Global, Adimali, Munnar · Trails & Tales by GK

Ask anyone who lives in Munnar when their favourite season is, and they may answer with a colour. For some it is the purple of the jacarandas along the roads in March; for others, the scarlet of the coral trees among the cardamom in January, or the crimson of the wild rhododendrons on the high grasslands. Munnar's year is not marked only by rain and mist and cold, but by a slow procession of flowering trees, each with its own season, colour and story.

Many of these trees are not native to the Western Ghats. They were brought by the planters and gardeners of the colonial era from South America, Africa, Australia and Madagascar, for shade, timber or beauty, and have become part of the character of the hills. Others are wild natives of the Ghats. Here is a calendar of Munnar's flowering trees through the year.

Winter: December to February

The coral tree (mullumurikku)

In the cardamom and pepper gardens on the slopes around Munnar and Adimali, the coral trees (Erythrina) drop their leaves in the cool, dry months and burst into clusters of brilliant scarlet flowers on bare, thorny branches. Coral trees are native to India and are planted widely as shade trees and as living supports for pepper vines. Their nectar-rich flowers attract crowds of birds: sunbirds, mynas, bulbuls, drongos and parakeets, which come to feed and, in doing so, pollinate the trees. A flowering coral tree in January, alive with birds, is one of the great sights of the Idukki winter.

The African tulip tree

The African tulip tree (Spathodea campanulata), from tropical Africa, carries huge clusters of flame-orange, tulip-shaped flowers at the tops of tall trees, often through the dry months and on and off for much of the year. It was widely planted along roads and in estates for its beauty. It also spreads readily from seed and is regarded as an invasive species in several tropical regions, and its spread in the Western Ghats is watched by ecologists. Its cup-shaped flowers hold water and nectar and are visited by birds.

Tea flowers

Few visitors notice that tea is itself a flowering plant. Left to grow, the tea bush (Camellia sinensis) becomes a small tree, and in the cooler months it bears small, fragrant white flowers with golden stamens, a reminder that it is a relative of the ornamental camellia. On the clipped bushes of the estates, the flowers are hidden among the leaves, but on old, unpruned tea trees they can be striking. (Read our guide to Munnar tea.)

Spring: February to April

Jacaranda: the purple season

The most famous of Munnar's flowering trees is the jacaranda (Jacaranda mimosifolia), a native of South America, brought to the hills by the British planters more than a century ago for shade and beauty. In December the trees shed their leaves; by late February they are covered in clouds of lavender-blue, bell-shaped flowers, and they continue blooming until about the end of April. The fallen flowers carpet the roads in purple.

In Malayalam the tree is called neela vaka. Because it flowers during the school examination season, it is also known locally as the pareeksha maram, the "exam tree". Jacarandas can be seen along the Kochi–Dhanushkodi highway between Pallivasal and Munnar, on the Munnar Gap road, at Vaguvarai on the Marayoor road, and around Chinnakanal, Thalayar and Lakkam.

Sadly, many of Munnar's old jacarandas have been lost. In 2025, most of the trees on the Second Mile–Munnar stretch were felled for the widening of the national highway, and environmentalists have called for seeds to be collected and new trees planted to keep the purple season alive.

Silver oak: gold above the tea

The tall, slender trees that stand in rows among the tea bushes of Munnar are mostly silver oaks (Grevillea robusta), natives of eastern Australia. They were planted by the tea companies as shade trees for the tea, as windbreaks and for firewood, and they are now one of the defining features of the landscape. In spring, the silver oaks are covered in golden-orange, comb-like flowers, rich in nectar and loved by birds and bees.

The wild rhododendron

On the high grasslands of Eravikulam, Meesapulimala and the surrounding hills grows a native tree: the Nilgiri rhododendron (Rhododendron arboreum subsp. nilagiricum), a gnarled, twisted tree of the grassland edges whose crimson flowers glow against the green and gold of the hills, mainly from about January to April. It is one of the few trees that can survive the frost, wind and fire of the high grasslands. One of the valleys on the way to Meesapulimala, Rhodo Valley, is named after it.

Easter lilies at Christ Church

Not a tree, but one of Munnar's loveliest seasonal sights: around Lent and Easter, the old cemetery of CSI Christ Church in Old Munnar fills with pink belladonna lilies, known locally as Easter lilies, planted by the British. Their blooms among the old graves follow the purple of the jacarandas.

Summer: April to June

Gulmohar and kanikonna

In the warmer valleys below Munnar, around Adimali, Marayoor and the lower estates, summer brings the scarlet and orange of the gulmohar or flame tree (Delonix regia), a native of Madagascar, and the golden, hanging flower chains of the kanikonna or Indian laburnum (Cassia fistula), Kerala's state flower. The kanikonna's flowers are an essential part of the Vishu kani, the auspicious first sight of the Malayalam new year in April.

Monsoon: June to September

The monsoon is a season of rain and mist rather than flowering trees. But on the wet slopes and grasslands, small flowers take over: wild balsams (Impatiens), many found nowhere else in the world, terrestrial and tree-dwelling orchids, and a host of tiny wild flowers among the grass. Brugmansias, the hanging "angel's trumpets", bloom in gardens and along estate roads. (Read about the plants of the high ranges in our article on Eravikulam.)

After the rains: August to November

Kurinji

The most famous flowers of Munnar are not on trees at all, but on shrubs: the kurinji (Strobilanthes). Several species grow in the hills, each with its own flowering cycle. The best known, neelakurinji (Strobilanthes kunthiana), flowers en masse only once every twelve years, turning whole hillsides blue between about August and October. The last great bloom was in 2018, and the next is expected around 2030. Other kurinji species flower in other years; in 2026, a different variety bloomed in parts of the Munnar hills.

Native and introduced

Munnar's flowering trees tell the story of the hills. The rhododendrons, coral trees, kurinji and wild balsams are natives of the Western Ghats, part of the ancient ecology of the hills. The jacarandas, silver oaks, African tulips, gulmohars and belladonna lilies were brought from distant continents by planters and gardeners, and have become part of the landscape and of people's memories. Some introduced trees, such as wattle and eucalyptus, and potentially the African tulip, have spread into the wild and now threaten the native grasslands and forests. (Read about Munnar's environment.) Enjoying the flowering trees of Munnar is also a reason to value and protect its native plants.

(Read also our introduction to Munnar and our article on the butterflies and moths that visit these flowers.)