BOUGAINVILLEA

surrounded by showy, colorful petaloid bracts. The vibrant colors of bougainvillea are not from the
Common name: PAPER
inconspicuous, FLOWER white or yellow or pink, flowers but from the bracts that surround each
commonly
flower.
Bougainvillea species
The genus Bougainvillea, in the Nyctinaginacea (Four-
+ LANDSCAPE
o’clock) family of USE
plants, has 14 species, with three that are
horticulturally important: B. spectabilis Willdenow, B.
Bougainvillea’s growth habit and beautiful showy bracts make it a popular plant for landscapes. It is used
glabra Choisy, and B. peruviana Humboldt and Bonpland.
in mass plantings, as shrubs or bushes, and as ground cover on banks. Bougainvillea provides hedges,
Many crosses among the various species have produced new
barriers, and slope coverings. For large, difficult-to-maintain areas, bougainvillea is an excellent ground
hybrid species and important horticultural cultivars.
cover. It can cover a whole hillside and will choke out weed growth. Dwarf cultivars make colorful ground
Bougainvillea is native to South America. The name
covers. Bougainvillea can be trained as a “standard,” a small flowering tree with a single trunk (photo
comes from Louis Antoine de Bougainville, a French
above), over arbors, into espaliers, onto walls, or to cascade down a slope. Bougainvillea is used as an
navigator and military commander who was the first
accent plant, a specimen plant, in hanging baskets, in containers, and for bonsai. Give plants enough room to
European to take note of the plant, in Brazil, in 1768.
grow to maturity without being crowded. Most cultivars do well 6–9 feet apart. Smaller cultivars can be
planted closer together, at 3–5 foot spacing. Bouganvillea should not be planted within 4 feet of walkways,
Figure 1 Plant image
as the thorns could catch unsuspecting passersby. In Hawai‘i, flowering is heaviest from September to April.
Characteristics
Bougainvillea
Flowering is a tropical
is promoted andday
by short subtropical
lengths. Inwoody, evergreen,
addition, shrubbyare
cultural practices vine. Typically
important multi-trunked or
to ensure
with clumping stems, it has a spreading, round plant habit with a height and spread of
satisfactory flowering avoid overwatering, over fertilizing with nitrogen, putting plants in heavy up to 20 shade,
feet. and
It climbs by sending out slender arching canes armed with sthorns. As they age, the stems turn from mid-
pruning
green to too
dullfrequently.
green-brown. TheBougainvillea
flowering peakis in Guam occurs
deciduous whenduring
grown the dry months,
in areas March
with a long drythrough
season.May
Numerous cultivars are available, with a striking array of colors. Their colorful “flowers” are really bracts, or
modified leaves, 1⁄2–2-inch long structures to which the true flowers are attached at the mid-rib. New growth
is required for inflorescence production, which occurs on short stem axes borne laterally in the axils of
leaves. From their initial emergence to full maturity, the bracts of many cultivars change color. Bracts may
retain their color for several months after the flowers have finished, gradually fading to resemble the color
and texture of paper.
The fruit is an elongated achene less than 1⁄2 inch long. It is rather inconspicuous, not showy, and has a dry,

Figure 2 Bougainvillea glabra found in Jakarta Indoneshia Figure 3 Bougainvillea spectabilis found in Kerala,India

Leaves are simple and alternate, with an undulate leaf margin. The leaf blade is 2–4 inches long, with
much variation in shape: globular, elliptical, obivate, ovate, or cordate. Leaves are mid- to deep green,
although some cultivars have variegated foliage. The true, perfect flowers are small, tubular, and

Kobayashi, Kent D.; James McConnell; John Griffis (October 2007). Cooperative Extension Service, University of
Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.
Figure 5 Baugianvillea street overhang at Singapore Figure 4 mass plantation as a shrubs

SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED

BY:
Ar. Vidisha Barwal
Aryan Sharma
20010321009

Kobayashi, Kent D.; James McConnell; John Griffis (October 2007). Cooperative Extension Service, University of
Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.