Eravikulam National Park, IndiaBeautiful, purplish-blue flowers that carpet the hillsides of southern India just once every 12 years are under threat of never blooming again.

The flowering shrubs of Strobilanthes kunthianus have bloomed only 15 times since they were first documented in 1838. The last time they appeared in Kerala state was in 2006, the same year Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was executed, Pluto was downgraded to a dwarf planet, and Italy won the World Cup.

Now, 12 years later, Neelakurinji or Kurinji, as it’s locally known, once again is appearing in Eravikulam National Park in southern India’s Kerala state—the only place in the world that these particular flowers grow.

“A single flower doesn't matter, but taken together, in a wide area, it's