The Flower Within a Flower

I grew up surrounded by bougainvillea plants. Every house in the neighborhood grows some potted ones. The plant’s spectacular flowers add color and beauty in the front yard of almost every residence.  For years, I thought that the plant’s dazzling beauty was brought about by its flowers.

The Bougainvillea is a genus of flowering plants native to South America. It was named after French Navy admiral and explorer Louis Antoine de Bougainville, who discovered the vine in Brazil in 1768 together with French Botanist Philibert Commercon, during their voyage to the Pacific Ocean.

Bougainvilleas are thorny, woody vines that grow from 1-12 m (3-39 ft) tall. The heart-shaped leaves are dark rich green with pointed tips and hairs on the underside. What people usually thought as the plant’s dazzling blossoms are not the real flowers, but the three to six paper-like bracts surrounding the three tiny, white tubular true blooms.

A bract is a modified or specialized leaf which is usually associated with reproduction or serve the function of attracting pollinators. The bougainvillea bracts’ bright colors include different shades of white, red, orange, purple, pink or yellow.

These relatively insect free plants can be propagated from root and branch cuttings. They are grown as a hedge, an arch and in pots and the different species are ideal for bonsai. They grow rapidly and flower year round in warm climates especially when pinched or pruned.  It grows best in dry condition and needs full sunlight, warm weather and requires little water to flower. It’s a plant that flower best under stress.

The bougainvillea is one of the most popular, spectacular and beautiful tropical plants; the Bougainvillea spectabilis and B. glabra among the most beautiful flowering vines bursting with vivid colors. The B. glabra is sometimes referred to as the paper flower due to its thin and paper-like bracts.

In warm climates, bougainvilleas are popular ornamental plants, including in many countries in Asia, Australia, and South Africa, its native tropical America and the states of Florida through California.

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