Bougainvillea glabra

Bougainvillea glabra
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Core eudicots
Order:	Caryophyllales
Family:	Nyctaginaceae
Genus:	Bougainvillea
Species:	B. glabra
Binomial name
Bougainvillea glabra Choisy[1]

Bougainvillea glabra, lesser bougainvillea or paperflower,^[2] is the most common species of bougainvillea used for bonsai.^[3]

Description

Bougainvillea glabra

It is an evergreen, climbing shrub with thorny stems. It usually grows 10–12 ft (3.0–3.7 m) tall, occasionally up to 30 ft (9 m). Tiny white flowers usually appear in clusters surrounded by colorful papery bracts, hence the name paperflower. The leaves are dark green, variable in shape, up to 4 in (10 cm) long.^[4] The flowers are about 0.4 cm in diameter (the pink petal-like structures are not petals, but bracts.)^[5]

Cultivation

B. glabra is heat and drought tolerant and frost sensitive. It is easily propagated by cuttings.^[4] It needs full sunlight, warm weather and well drained soil to flower well.

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  Vine
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  Flowers
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  Bougainvillea glabra with yellow bracts

References

1. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), Taxon: Bougainvillea glabra Choisy, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Area, retrieved 2014-01-30
2. Common names for Lesser Bougainvillea (Bougainvillea glabra)—Encyclopedia of Life
3. "Bougainvillea bonsai" (PDF). Archived March 9, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. (96 KB)
4. Bougainvillea glabra - University of Arizona Pima County Cooperative Extension
5. Bougainvillea glabra. "Bougainvillea glabra". Flower View.