''Buddleja soratae'' is a rare species

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to one small area of

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

around

Sorata Sorata (Aymara language, Aymara: ''Surat'a'') is a small town in the La Paz Department, Bolivia, La Paz Department in the Bolivian Andes, northwest of the city of La Paz and east of Lake Titicaca. It is the seat of the Larecaja Province and the ...

, growing along forest edges at altitudes of 2,700 - 3,200 m; it was first described and named by Kraenzlin in 1913.Kraenzlin, F. W. L. (1913). ''Bot. Jahrb Syst.'' 50: Beibl. 111, 47. 1913Norman, E. M. (2000). Buddlejaceae. ''Flora Neotropica 81''. New York Botanical Garden, USA

Description

''Buddleja soratae'' 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 ...

shrub or small tree 5 – 6 m high. The younger branches are quadrangular, the youngest sections

tomentose Trichomes (); ) are fine outgrowths or appendages on plants, algae, lichens, and certain protists. They are of diverse structure and function. Examples are hairs, glandular hairs, scales, and papillae. A covering of any kind of hair on a plant ...

, bearing membranaceous lanceolate to elliptic leaves with 0.5 – 1 cm petioles, and are 7 – 14 cm long by 2 – 4 cm wide, glabrescent above but

below. The orange leafy-bracted

inflorescences An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...

are 12 – 15 cm long by 10 – 15 cm wide, comprising 2 – 3 orders of branches bearing cymes of 6 – 9 flowers on peduncles 0.5 – 1 cm long. ''Buddleja soratae'' is considered very similar to ''B. cardanasii'' and ''B. multiceps'', differing from the latter only in the shape of the leaves.

Cultivation

The shrub is not known to be in cultivation.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4984717 soratae Flora of Bolivia Flora of South America Taxa named by Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Kraenzlin Dioecious plants