I don't know the name of the plant. It's a common house plant in Bangladesh. What interests me about its flower is the colorful leaflike structure that probably functions as a petal. What is this structure homologous to? Petal, sepal, bract or leaf?
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asked Apr 12, 2020 at 20:04
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1 Answer
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The plant looks like something in the genus Bougainvillea. These plants are native to South America, but found as introduced ornamentals in many places.
The colored petal-like organs are bracts (see the Wikipedia link above). The entire structure is an inflorescence with the flower buds growing out from the surface of the colored bracts — you should eventually see those flowers open and you could then dissect them confirm that the usual flower structures are present.
This is a well labeled diagram:
