Bougainvillea

Bougainvillea is a genus of thorny ornamental vines, bushes and trees in the four-o'clock family, Nyctaginaceae, native to the tropical forests of South America. The article says there are between 4 and 22 species. The inflorescence has small flowers surrounded by large colourful bracts. Wikipedia's article on Haitian Vodou records that certain trees are deemed to possess resident spirits and are used as natural altars, and that different tree species are associated with different lwa. It names the lwa Danbala as the one linked with bougainvillea, and Oyu as the one linked with the mango tree. In Haitian Vodou, then, bougainvillea is a tree tied to a particular spirit, not a medicine. The botanical article warns that the sap of bougainvillea can cause serious skin rashes, similar to those from Toxicodendron species. The entry names the genus as a whole, since the Vodou article does not name a species.