Buddleja caryopteridifolia

Buddleja caryopteridifolia
B. caryopteridifolia inflorescence.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Buddlejaceae
Genus: Buddleja
Species: B. caryopteridifolia
Binomial name
Buddleja caryopteridifolia
W. W. Sm.
Synonyms
  • Buddleja crispa Benth.
  • Buddleja acosma C.Marquand
  • Buddleja eremophilia W.W.Sm.
  • Buddleja caryopteridifolia var. eremophilia W.W.Sm.
  • Buddleja caryopteridifolia var. fasciculiflora Z.Y.Zhang.
  • Buddleja caryopteridifolia var lanuginosa C.Marquand
  • Buddleja incompta W.W.Sm.

Buddleja caryopteridifolia W.W.Sm. is a small deciduous shrub discovered by George Forrest in 1913 on open ground at 3,000 m on the Tong Shan in the Yangtze valley, China. The species was described and named by William Wright Smith in 1914.[1]

Resembling B. crispa, it was sunk under this name by Leeuwenberg,[2] although it remains recognized as a separate species in horticulture. [3] It is likely that some specimens previously grown under this name at the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh were actually Buddleja sterniana. [4]

Description

B. caryopteridifolia grows to 2 m in height in the wild, and bears small upright terminal panicles with relatively few flowers. The colour of the sweetly scented flowers is generally pink-purple, which appear in spring or late summer. The grey-green lanceolate leaves are less tomentose than B. crispa, usually with irregular toothed margins, although the margins of the commonly cultivated form are entire. Most leaves are opposite but occasionally shoots are produced with some alternate leaves. The foliage resembles that of several species of the Caryopteris genus for which it is named.

Cultivation

B. caryopteridifolia is fairly hardy in the UK, but loses all its leaves in winter. Relatively common in cultivation in the UK, specimens are grown as part of the NCCPG national collections at The Lavender Garden and The Longstock Nursery. The origin of the cultivated form is unknown. Hardiness: USDA zones 89. [3]

References

  1. Smith W.W. (1914). Notes Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh 8: 179.
  2. Leeuwenberg, A. J. M. (1979) The Loganiaceae of Africa XVIII Buddleja L. II, Revision of the African & Asiatic species. H. Veenman & Zonen, Wageningen, Nederland.
  3. 1 2 Stuart, D. (2006). Buddlejas. RHS Plant Collector Guide. Timber Press, Oregon, USA. ISBN 978-0-88192-688-0
  4. Cotton, A. D. (1947). Spring flowering buddleias. RHS Journal Vol. 72. 1947. pp 427 – 437. Royal Horticultural Society, London.
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