1202

   Bougainvillea spectabilis Willd.

  

Synonym	:	Bougainvillea bracteata Pers.
Family	:	Nyctaginaceae
Local name	:	Malyalam-Boganvilla English-Papaer flower
Flowering and fruiting period	:	November-June
Distribution	:	Native of Brazil, widely grown in tropics and subtropics
Distribution in kerala	:	Kottayam, Kasaragode, Kollam, Thiruvananthapuram
Habitat	:	Grown as garden plant
Endemic/Exotic	:	Exotic
Uses	:	Ornamental Purposes
Key Botanical Characters:  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.