Genetic improvement of bougainvillea in Indian scenario - A review

Abstract

Bougainvillea is a native of South America and it is a popular plant all over the world with tropical and warm climates. It is a thorny and woody plant having different coloured bracts viz., white, pink, purple, red, orange, yellow etc. Among the different species of Bougainvillea, Bougainvillea glabra and B. spectabilis are most popular across the world. Bougainvillea plants provide colour to the garden when the flowering of winter season annuals ceases and the blooming of summer annuals or other ornamental plants is yet to arrive. The ability of bougainvillea to grow under highly polluted conditions like traffic islands, roadsides and around industries has made it popular among the planners and architects. The plants can be grown as climbers by training them on walls of house or any building, parks, farms garden, open spaces and on arches or pergola or on a tree. The edible flowers of Bougainvillea are frequently used for the preparation of salads and flower teas in different parts of the world. The floral bracts are the rich source of betalain pigments particularly betacyanin which can be exploited as a natural colorant in food industries. Although, Bougainvillea has originated in South America, but approximately 50% of the present day cultivars were evolved and developed in India. The Division of Floriculture and Landscaping of IARI is a pioneering centre of Bougainvillea and have a good collection of germplasm of bougainvilleas. Besides, NBRI, Lucknow; IIHR, Bangalore; CAZRI, Jodhpur and BARC, Mumbai have contributed significantly in breeding of Bougainvillea. Division of Floriculture and Landscaping IARI, New Delhi has been recognized as the International Registration Authority for Bougainvilleas by Royal Horticultural Society, U.K, since, 1966 and again during the recent meeting of 2007 held at Wageningen, The Netherlands. The division is one of the major repository centre and more than 100 cultivars of Bougainvilleas are conserved here with different colour, thorny, thornless, variegated, bicoloured, multibracted etc. The varieties evolved at IARI include Dr. R.R. Pal, Stanza, Summer Time, Sonnet, Spring Festival and Vishakha.