Bougainvilla at Monterey del Mar, Costa Rica. Bouganvilleas were named after the famous French explorer, Admiral Louis de Bougainville, who "discovered" them in 1768 when he and his crew became the first Frenchmen to circumnavigate the globe. Thepink "blooms" are not true flowers, but instead are papery bracts that encircle the small, white, tubular flower.

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