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Bougainvillea spectabilis Willd.

Synonym: . Bougainvillea bracteata Pers., Bougainvillea brasiliensis Raeusch.

NYCTAGINACEAE

Local Names : കടലാസ്സ്‌പൂവ്, Boganvilla, Paper flower.

Flowering Period : November to June.

Distribution : Native of Brazil

Uses: Ornamental

Exotic : Yes

 Bougainvillae are armed, straggling shrubs. Leaves alternate, ovate-acuminate, entire, lateral nerves 5-6 pairs, glabrous. Flowers in axillary cymes or panicles, in triads, each flower is subtended by an ovate-acute, petaloid bract. Staminal filaments usually unequal, inflexed in bud. Ovary 1-celled; style filiform, stigma small; ovule solitary. Fruit indehiscent, enclosed in the hardened perianth tube.