Two new genetically modified species of bougainvillea — or “paper flowers” as they are also known as — were launched by the official body Bougainvillea Society of India on Thursday at a two-day symposium on landscaping.

The flowers named Aruna and Jayanti were created through mutation breeding, a process in which stem cuttings are treated with gamma rays in special laboratories and then cultivated, said creator Dr R K Roy, scientist at the National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI), Lucknow. The research and cultivation is said to have taken seven years.

Stating that this is not the first time that genetically modified flowers have been cultivated in the country, Roy said: "We have developed 20 new varieties of bougainvilleas in our laboratory in the past. The experiment involves modifying the DNAs of a plant by either hybridisation or mutation." Mutation can be induced with radiation or chemical modification.

Bougainvillea is an ornamental flowering plant native to South America, but very popular in India and Mumbai. Being hardy by nature, the plants need very little maintenance and water, thereby making it an ideal plant on the highly polluted highways. In south-east Asian countries such as Singapore and Hong Kong these plants adorn roads, walkways, subways and even highway dividers.

The new species Aruna is a drooping variety with yellowish orange bract (the papery petals around the actual white cluster of flowers). The plant is suitable for pot-culture, cascade, standard cultivation and hanging baskets, Roy said. Jayanti, a climber, has variegated (shaded) bracts of green and creamish white. Soon, these two new species will adorn the three-acre bougainvillea garden in Mumbai's Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Trombay.