''Bougainvillea glabra'', the lesser bougainvillea or paperflower,Common names for Lesser Bougainvillea (''Bougainvillea glabra'')—Encyclopedia of Life
/ref> is the most common

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

bougainvillea ''Bougainvillea'' ( , ) is a genus of thorny ornamental vines, bushes, and trees belonging to the family, Nyctaginaceae. They are native to Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Peru, and Argentina. There are between 4 and 22 species in the genus. The i ...

used for

bonsai Bonsai (; , ) is the Japanese art of Horticulture, growing and shaping miniature trees in containers, with a long documented history of influences and native Japanese development over a thousand years, and with unique aesthetics, cultural hist ...

. The epithet 'glabra' comes from Latin and means "bald".

Description

It is an

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

, climbing

shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

that usually grows tall, occasionally up to . It features thick, thorny stems and drooping branches that are glabrous or sparsely hairy. The leaves have a stem. The leaf blade is ovate to ovate-lanceolate, pointed or briefly pointed, 5 to 13 centimeters long and 3 to 6 centimeters wide, sparsely fluffy hairy on the underside and bald on the top. The leaf-like

bracts In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also loo ...

are purple, oblong or elliptical, pointed, long and about wide. They tower over the flowers. These grow individually in pairs or in groups of three on flower stems about 3.5 millimeters long.

Raphide Raphides ( ; singular ''raphide'' or ''raphis'') are needle-shaped crystals of calcium oxalate monohydrate ( prismatic monoclinic crystals) or calcium carbonate as aragonite ( dipyramidal orthorhombic crystals), found in more than 200 familie ...

s have been found in the stem, bracts and different parts of the flower.

Inflorescences

The crown tube is greenish, clearly angled, about 2 centimeters long, sparsely downy hairy, ribbed and points away from the flower stalk. The tip is lobed five times and forms a short, spread, white or yellowish hem. The six to eight stamens have 8 to 13 millimeter long

stamen The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

s. The

ovary The ovary () is a gonad in the female reproductive system that produces ova; when released, an ovum travels through the fallopian tube/ oviduct into the uterus. There is an ovary on the left and the right side of the body. The ovaries are end ...

is about 2 millimeters long, the stylus 1 millimeter and the scar 2.5 millimeters. Tiny white

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s usually appear in clusters surrounded by colorful papery

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also lo ...

s, hence the name paperflower. The

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

are dark green, variable in shape, up to long. The flowers are about in diameter (the pink petal-like structures are not petals, but bracts).

Cultivation

''B. glabra'' is heat and drought tolerant and frost sensitive. It is easily propagated by cuttings. It needs full sunlight, warm weather and well drained soil to flower well. The species is often used in culture, in areas with frost in glass houses, otherwise outdoors. The similar '' Bougainvillea spectabilis'', which differs from ''Bougainvillea glabra'' by the velvety-felty underside of the leaves, is also cultivated, but less frequently.

Uses

Being of medical importance, the

infusion Infusion is the process of extracting chemical compounds or flavors from plant material in a solvent such as water, oil or alcohol, by allowing the material to remain suspended in the solvent over time (a process often called steeping). An inf ...

of the plant's tender leaves and bracts is used orally to treat gastrointestinal problems (diarrhoea, stomach pain), and respiratory conditions (

asthma Asthma is a common long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wh ...

bronchitis Bronchitis is inflammation of the bronchi (large and medium-sized airways) in the lungs that causes coughing. Bronchitis usually begins as an infection in the nose, ears, throat, or sinuses. The infection then makes its way down to the bronchi. ...

, catarrh,

chest pain Chest pain is pain or discomfort in the chest, typically the front of the chest. It may be described as sharp, dull, pressure, heaviness or squeezing. Associated symptoms may include pain in the shoulder, arm, upper abdomen, or jaw, along with n ...

fever Fever or pyrexia in humans is a symptom of an anti-infection defense mechanism that appears with Human body temperature, body temperature exceeding the normal range caused by an increase in the body's temperature Human body temperature#Fever, s ...

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

whooping cough Whooping cough ( or ), also known as pertussis or the 100-day cough, is a highly contagious, Vaccine-preventable diseases, vaccine-preventable Pathogenic bacteria, bacterial disease. Initial symptoms are usually similar to those of the common c ...

).Peter Schönfelder, Ingrid Schönfelder: The cosmos-Canary flora. Over 1000 species and 60 tropical ornamental trees (= Kosmos nature guide ). 3. Edition. Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 2012, , pp. 288, 289 .

Gallery

Image:BougainvilleaGlabraVine.jpg, Vine Image:Paperflower -- Bougainvillea glabra.jpg, Paperflower—''Bougainvillea glabra'' Image:BougainvilleaGlabraFlowers.jpg, Flowers File:Bougainvillea glabra at Kadavoor.jpg, ''Bougainvillea glabra'' with yellow

s File:B.glabra_flower.jpg, True flower of ''B. glabra'' (in pale yellow) surrounded by bright magenta-colored

s. A wide range of colorations exists. File:Pink paperflowers (Bougainvillea glabra).jpg, Multiple paperflowers on a shrub File:Bougainvillea glabra or paperflower.jpg, ''Bougainvillea glabra'' or paperflower, captured in

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

, India File:Pollen grains of Bougainvillea glabra.jpg, Pollen grains of ''Bougainvillea glabra'' from

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

References

Bibliography

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q159984 Nyctaginaceae Flora of Brazil Garden plants of South America Plants used in bonsai Vines Taxa named by Jacques Denys Choisy