Strangely enough, the showy, red portions of the Bougainvillea are not
the flowers. They are leaf-like thingees called bracts. The flowers
are the tiny whitish growth amidst the bracts.
Bougainvillea proliferate in S. California. The climate here seems to
agree with them very well.
I like close-ups because you get to see things that you usually miss
when viewing typical photos of the plant.
Bob Williams