''Buddleja polycephala'' is a shrub
endemic to southern
Ecuador and areas around
Ayabaca and
Piura
Piura is a city in northwestern Peru located in the Sechura Desert on the Piura River. It is the capital of the Piura Region and the Piura Province. Its population was 484,475 as of 2017.
It was here that Spanish Conqueror Francisco Pizarro fou ...
, and
Cajamarca in
Peru, at elevations of 2,000 – 2,700 m. The species was first named and described by
Kunth in 1818.
[Kunth, in Humboldt, Bonpland, and Kunth. (1818). ''Nov. gen. sp., ed. fol.'' 2:279, ed. quar. 2:346, 1818.][Norman, E. M. (2000). Buddlejaceae. ''Flora Neotropica 81'', pp. 135 - 141. New York Botanical Garden, USA]
Description
''Buddleja polycephala'' is a
dioecious
Dioecy (; ; adj. dioecious , ) is a characteristic of a species, meaning that it has distinct individual organisms (unisexual) that produce male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproductio ...
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
corolla
Corolla may refer to:
*Corolla (botany), the petals of a flower, considered as a unit
*Toyota Corolla, an automobile model name
* Corolla (headgear), an ancient headdress in the form of a circlet or crown
* ''Corolla'' (gastropod), a genus of moll ...
s 3 mm long.
[
]
Cultivation
The species is not known to be in cultivation.
Varieties
Norman [ 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
{{Taxonbar, from=Q4984701
polycephala
Flora of Ecuador
Flora of Peru
Flora of South America
Dioecious plants