Bougainvillea

Description:

Bougainvillea is an evergreen, with shiny green, slightly hairy leaves and magenta or red colored bracts that usually surround clusters of tiny white flowers. Its woody trunks tend to be twisted and the thin stem have sharp thorns and dark green leaves.

Habitat:

Bougainvilleas natural habitat is equatorial where day and night lengths are almost equal. In these areas they tend to bloom year round. When grown in other areas, best blooming occurs when the night length and day length are almost equal (like e.g. in spring or fall for North America).

Notes:

Also known as 'Paper Flower' or 'lesser bougainvillea'. Since Bougainvillea are vines they can be used as bonsai.