Bougainvillea

The genera Bougainvillea contains 18 different species, all of them thorny ornamental vines, shrubs or trees. The flower-like inflorescence consists of large, colourful, sepal-like bracts (special leaves) which surround three simple waxy flowers. Leaves alternate. Bougainvillea is frost-sensitive and drought-tolerant, making it ideal for warm climates. Its high salt tolerance makes it highly adapted in coastal regions.

Native to South America from Brazil to Peru to Argentina. Cultivated in tropical, subtropical and Mediterranean regions around the world.

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Many of today’s bougainvillea are the result of interbreeding among only three out of the genera’s eighteen species. Currently, there are over 300 varieties of bougainvillea around the world.