Question

Give a brief account on Monocarpic Plants.

Answer 1

Monocarpic Plants are the plants that flower once in their whole life time and after flowering, they produce fruits and die. All annual (eg- Wheat, Rice) and biennial plants (eg-Carrot, Radish) are monocarpic. A few perennial plants(Bambusa tulda , Agave, Banana, etc) are also monocarpic. Plants like bamboo species, (e.g., Bambusa tuida) flower only once In their lifetime, usually after 50-100 years. They produce a large number of fruits and then die. While, Strobilanthus kunthiana (Neelakuranji) flowers once in 12 years. The last time this plant flowered during September-October 2006. It is found in hilly areas in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and attracted a large number of tourists. The next cycle happened this year in 2018 for the flowering of Neelakuranji.