In summer, while on your treks, you may experience the delight of coming across hill slopes shimmering the soft hues of the lavender-blue funnel shaped flowers, ‘Strobilanthes’, that are typical of this region, and give the mountains their bluish tinge, and so,earning their name..
The Nilgiri mountains are famous for tea production, and you will find the omnipresent, glossy, stout bush named Camellia Thea, with its fragrant white or pink flowers. Tea was brought to the Nilgiris in the 1860s, and is amongst India's most prominent plantation crops. The slopes of the Nilgiris, all round Ooty and Coonoor are clothed in tea bushes. According to tea connoisseurs, tea bushes at a higher elevation have a flavor superior to that of those that grow at lower heights. And so, these tea bushes give rise to a huge industry of tea production in this area. Coffee is also grown in this region.
You will also notice the tall and lanky eucalyptus tree growings in abundance on the slopes of the Ooty hills, and there is a small industry that produces eucalyptus oil, and you can purchase it in plenty in the local shops. You can also buy some pure mountain honey in these shops
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