Bougainvillea Bougainvillea
Family
Nyctaginaceae
Genus
Bougainvillea
Species
Bougainvillea (/ˌbuːɡᵻnˈvɪliə/ or /ˌboʊɡᵻnˈvɪliə/) is a genus of thorny ornamental
vines, bushes, and trees with flower-like spring leaves near its flowers. Different
authors accept between four and 18 species in the genus. They are native plants of South
America from Brazil west to Peru and south to southern Argentina (Chubut Province).
Bougainvillea are also known as buganvilla (Spain), bugambilia (Mexico, Guatemala, Cuba,
Philippines), pokok bunga kertas (Indonesia), "'bougenville"' (Pakistan), Napoleón
(Honduras), veranera (Colombia, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Panama),
trinitaria (Colombia, Panama, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic & Venezuela), Santa
Rita (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) or papelillo (northern Peru).
The vine species grow anywhere from 1 to 12 m (3 to 40 ft.) tall, scrambling over other
plants with their spiky thorns. The thorns are tipped with a black, waxy substance. They
are evergreen where rainfall occurs all year, or deciduous if there is a dry season. The
leaves are alternate, simple ovate-acuminate, 4–13 cm long and 2–6 cm broad. The actual
flower of the plant is small and generally white, but each cluster of three flowers is
surrounded by three or six bracts with the bright colours associated with the plant,
including pink, magenta, purple, red, orange, white, or yellow. Bougainvillea glabra is
sometimes referred to as "paper flower" because the bracts are thin and papery. The
fruit is a narrow five-lobed achene. Bougainvillea are relatively pest-free plants, but
they may suffer from worms, snails and aphids. The larvae of some Lepidoptera species
also use them as food plants, for example the giant leopard moth (Hypercompe
scribonia).