Bougainvillea is a genus of about 14 species of shrubs, vines, or small trees, in the four-o'clock family (Nyctaginaceae), native to South America. Many species are spiny. Only the woody vines have attained wide popularity; several species have produced very showy cultivated varieties often grown indoors and in conservatories.
The inconspicuous flowers are surrounded by brightly coloured papery bracts, for which one species, B. glabra, from Brazil, is called paperflower; the bracts (modified leaves, see:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bract) are purple or magenta to lighter tints in certain varieties.
The name comes from Louis Antoine de Bougainville, an admiral in the French Navy who discovered the plant in Brazil in 1768.
