Bougainvillea

Written for The Daily Cuppa’s Walkabout Collections

Photo by Pseu Pending (Seu)

Is your perfume melon or peach?
I come seeking, found
symphonic notes of shrubbery, grass, and trees
waltzing to celebrate summer breeze

Bougainvillea

• Namesake — Named after Admiral Louis Antoine, Count of Bougainville, 1767. Jeanne Baret — the first woman to sail around the world, a herbalist disguised as a male — found the plant in today’s Rio de Janeiro and credited the Count in exchange for protection.
• The plant — Blooms are fuchsia/purple/pink/white. Fruity fragrance. Native to eastern South America, including Brazil, Peru, and Argentina. Lives today in the tropics/subtropics around the world. About 300 hybrids. Toxic thorns. Almost a weed — leave them alone to flower. Bracts traditionally used as a dye and to treat coughs.
• Drink recipe — Only Bougainvillea Brasiliensis — the purple variety — is forager friendly.
• Health benefits (Bougainvillea Spectabilis) — anticancer/antidiabetic/anti-inflammatory/hepatoprotective/antihyperlipidermic/antimicrobial/ antioxidant/antiulcer/antifertility

Not medical advice. Not affiliated with links above

© Pseu Pending (Seu) 2022