The information on this plant was compiled from the following sites http://www.ehow.com/info_8564790_structures-bougainvillea-flowers.html
http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag//artdec10/bj-bvillea.html<http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artdec10/bj-bvillea.html> http://ww.w.backyardnature.net/yucatan/bougain2.htm On Tue, Jan 24, 2012 at 10:57 AM, Madhuri Raut <itii...@gmail.com> wrote: > 15th Jan 2012 > > Sharing images of Bougainvillea spp inflorescence at a private society at > Pune > > Family Nyctaginaceae > > Flowers open at sunset and last approximately five days on the plant. They > are surrounded by bracts. Three bracts surround an equal number of flower > buds which have rounded tips. The flower buds look like waxy tubes with > bulbous bases.Longitudinal ridges run the entire length of the flower. The > slender tubular structure arising from the bract's base is the flower's > slender calyx, which is red outside . Bougainvillea flowers bear no > corollas, The calyx bears five wavy lobes like a normal corolla and the > buds open into-a "star" at the apex, the colour of which may be white, > light greenish yellow, cream, yellow or pink. Usually only one of the > flowers within a group of three bracts opens to begin with. Over a period > of up to a week, the second and third flowers may open. > > The colours of the bracts are innumerable, ranging from white to deep > majenta, including other lighter shades such as yellow, orange, pink, > mauve, purple, scarlet, crimson and red. In some cultivars, bracts of two > colours are found in the same plant, while in others the colour of the > bract changes with age, thus creating an impression that the plant is > bearing two or three colored flowers. > > Some buds look spirally coiled is this a malformation and is it common? > -- > Regards > Dr.Bhagyashri Ranade > -- Regards Dr.Bhagyashri Ranade