Bougainvillea

[Peter]

The plant Bouganvillea (without looking in Google).

What connection does it have with the French Navy?

[PMarione]

In French: bougainvillée

Louis Antoine de Bougainville (b 1729) was one of the great French explorers of the 18th century.
The plant was discovered in Brazil and named after him.
He was the 1st French circumnavigator (November 1766 - March 1769) with a loss of only 7 men out of more than 200.
His ships were la Boudeuse and l'Etoile.
He claimed Tahiti for France and named it Nouvelle Cythère unaware of the previous visit of Wallis.

He became a member of the Royal Society and of l'Académie des Sciences.

Contrary to Cook, he died in his bed in 1811.
His name was also given to the largest of the Solomon Islands, Isla Bougainville in the Falklands, and to various straiths.
13 ships of the French Navy have been named Bougainville.

[Peter]

Sadly Bougainville, is not remembered by most of the English speaking nations. He really was an excellent explorer on a par with Cook.

A couple of years ago I stayed in a hotel in Mauritius called Hotel Bouganville, it was owned by a Frenchman!