Buddleja polycephala

Buddleja polycephala is a shrub endemic to southern Ecuador and areas around Ayabaca and Piura, and Cajamarca in Peru, at elevations of 2,000 – 2,700 m. The species was first named and described by Kunth in 1818.[1][2]

Buddleja polycephala
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Scrophulariaceae
Genus: Buddleja
Species:
B. polycephala
Binomial name
Buddleja polycephala

Description

Buddleja polycephala is a dioecious sprawling shrub 1 – 5 m tall. The young branches are quadrangular and tomentose, bearing ovate or ovate-lanceolate membranaceous leaves 9 – 25 cm long by 4 – 10 cm wide, initially thickly tomentose but later glabrescent above, but remaining tomentose below. The yellowish white inflorescences are 15 – 40 cm long, and as wide at the base, with leafy-bracted primary and secondary branches perpendicular to each other. The flowers are borne as compact heads, approximately 1 cm in diameter, each with around 20 flowers, the corollas 3 mm long.[2]

Cultivation

The species is not known to be in cultivation.

Varieties

Norman [2] identifies two varieties, both distinguished by minor differences in the leaves:

  • Buddleja polycephala Kunth var. polycephala
  • Buddleja polycephala Kunth var. peruviana (J. F. Macbr.) E. M. Norman

References
  1. Kunth, in Humboldt, Bonpland, and Kunth. (1818). Nov. gen. sp., ed. fol. 2:279, ed. quar. 2:346, 1818.
  2. Norman, E. M. (2000). Buddlejaceae. Flora Neotropica 81, pp. 135 - 141. New York Botanical Garden, USA
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