BOUGAINVILLIA GLABRA. 



NATURAL ORDER, NYCTAGINACE^. 



OTWITHSTANDING the many familiar flowers we have 

 ah^eady noticed, there will hardly be one better known or 

 admired than the one now before us. 



It is so associated with Indian horticulture, and is such 

 an ornament to almost every garden, that no work of this kind would be 

 complete without it. 



There are three varieties of this peculiar and lovely shrub, but 

 the one in the illustration is decidedly the most desirable to have in 

 a garden, as it is in constant blossom. 



"Bougainvillia Spectabilis" only flowers in February and March. 



The app.earance of these shrubs is dull and heavy, so far as the 

 foliage is concerned, for they are a dark blue-green, rather hairy and 

 very numerous. 



At first sight the bush looks as if covered with a mass of magenta 

 leaves, but on close inspection this proves to be a mistake. 



The flowers themselves are small and of a pale yellow colour, and 

 the brilliant magenta that is the ornament of the bush is from the 

 bracteal leaves which envelop the flowers, for there are generally more 

 than one growing out of the same stalk. 



When in full blossom the beauty of the bush can well be imagined, 

 affording, as it does, a perfect blaze of colour set off by the dark 

 green leaves. 



These plants are very easily propagated by cuttings, either in 

 sand or light mould, but making laj'ers is equally successful. 



There is no perceptible difference between the varieties when they 

 are in blossom, as .they are all then handsome attractive bushes. 



It has often been remarked that Indian flowers are of a more 

 gaudy and resplendent colouring than those English ones, and the 

 specimen before us bears out this idea. 



The brilliancy and vividness of the colours must be very striking 

 to those who have not been long in the country. 



All the varieties of this plant are very common in India, and may 

 be seen in nearly every garden, where they grow in great luxuriance, 

 especially in Calcutta. 



From the plate it will be seen that the flower is a small yellow star 

 at the end of a long narrow tube. One of the distinguishing features 

 of this specimen is that it has thorns all up the stems. 



There is no seed to be obtained from these plants that I am aware 

 of; the flowers drop off" without forming any. 



This particular kind was known only in the Calcutta Horticultural 

 Gardens until quite lately, but the other varieties are common all over 

 India. 



It grows well in any soil, but whether indigenous to India or not 

 has never been ascertained. 



It possesses no medicinal properties. 



