Uttarakhand: A rare flower Brahmakamal blooming in off-season stumps many | News – Times of India Videos

Changing weather patterns are likely causing Brahmakamal — a rare flower that grows at elevations between 3,500-4,800 meters — to bloom off-season in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district while low tourist activity and resultant lack of pollution may have led the plant to be seen in lower altitudes in another part of the state. Brahmakamal (Saussurea Obvallata) is Uttarakhand’s state flower which blooms during mid-monsoon (July-August). This year, however, a team of forest officials in Rudraprayag which had gone on high-altitude patrolling in the Himalayas found several of the flowers in bloom in October. As images of the white-hued blossom went viral on social media, it piqued the interest of netizens and scientists alike. The divisional forest officer of Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary, Amit Kanwar, who shot the photos in Nandi Kund in Chamoli district, said changing weather patterns may have impacted the flowers. “There was sufficient snowfall this year as opposed to previous years and the snow melted late as well. These factors are likely to have influenced the flower’s blooming.” Experts said that in Pithoragarh district this year, the flower was spotted blooming even at lower altitudes of 3,000 meters. Brijesh Singh, a local conservationist, said absence of tourist activity during lockdown helped keep pollution away which could have led the flowers to expand their territory and move lower into the hills. Anup Chandra, senior scientist at the Forest Research Institute (FRI), Dehradun, told TOI, “It may be possible that the flower is blooming in October due to lack of pollution this year. Or these could just be sporadic cases of stress blooming. The flower could also have been a sub-species. Adequate research is needed to understand this better.”