The bougainvillea [boo-gan-vill-ee-a] plant is a thorny ornamental vine, bush, or tree (up to 40 feet tall) with purple, pink, red, yellow, and white bracts, which are very thin and wrinkly. There are also some tiny white flowers scattered about among the bracts. This plant has very sharp and numerous spiky thorns. The sap from this tree can cause skin rashes. It can be pruned and is also drought tolerant.
Classification
Clades (4 of them)
Order Caryophyllae
Family Nyctaginaceae
Genus Bougainvillea
The bougainvillea plant likes warm climates. It is native to tropical forests in Brazil, Paraguay, Peru, and Argentina. Like most plants these days, it is found elsewhere in the world, namely Florida, South Carolina, California, Mediterrranean area, and southern India. The exact number of species of this plant has not fully established. The number ranges from 4 to 22 and reflects whether or not a lumper or a splitter was asked. The geologic time range of this interesting and beautiful plant is unknown.
Figure 1. Many wrinkly red bracts and some scattered tiny! white flowers on a bougainvillea tree.
Figure 2. A cluster of white bougainvillea flowers among red bracts.
Figure 3. Pink bracts surrounding the tiny white flowers of this plant.
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