''Buddleja stenostachya'' is a

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

shrub native to the province of

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. The species was discovered and introduced to cultivation by

Wilson Wilson may refer to: People * Wilson (name) ** List of people with given name Wilson ** List of people with surname Wilson * Wilson (footballer, 1927–1998), Brazilian manager and defender * Wilson (footballer, born 1984), full name Wilson Ro ...

in 1908, and named by him and

Rehder Rehder is a German surname. Notable people with this surname include the following: * Alfred Rehder (1863–1949), German-American botanist and Harvard professor * Elke Rehder (born 1953), German artist * Harald Alfred Rehder (1907–1996), Ameri ...

in 1913.Bean, W. J. (1970). ''Trees & Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles, 8th ed., Vol. 1.''. (2nd impression 1976) London. There remains some contention over its taxonomy; it was sunk under ''B. nivea'' by Leeuwenberg;Leeuwenberg, A. J. M. (1979) ''The Loganiaceae of Africa XVIII Buddleja L. II, Revision of the African & Asiatic species''. H. Veenman & Zonen B. V., Netherlands. while another erroneously sank it as a variety of '' Buddleja crispa''.Stuart, D. (2006). ''Buddlejas''. Timber Press, Oregon, USA.

Description

''Buddleja stenostachya'' can grow to 3 m in height, its shoots covered by a dense white indumentum. The oblong-lanceolate leaves are of variable size, < 20 cm long by 6 cm wide; they are long pointed, tapered at the base, with only slightly toothed or occasionally entire margins. The upper surfaces are dull green in colour, the undersides, like the shoots, covered in a dense white wool. The inflorescences are slender panicles < 45 cm long, comprising closely packed, short stalked cymes with few small flowers, lilac in colour with orange throat, and covered with down. The panicles usually appear in threes at the end of the current season's growth in late summer and autumn.

Ploidy Ploidy () is the number of complete sets of chromosomes in a cell (biology), cell, and hence the number of possible alleles for Autosome, autosomal and Pseudoautosomal region, pseudoautosomal genes. Sets of chromosomes refer to the number of mat ...

: ''B. stenostachya'' is hexaploid (''2n''=114) like '' B. nivea'' Moore, R. J. (1960). Cytotaxonomic notes on Buddleia. L. Am. J. Bot. 47:511–517.

Cultivation

The species is uncommon in cultivation in the UK and North America. In the UK, specimens are grown as part of the

NCCPG Plant Heritage, formerly known as the National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens (NCCPG), is a botanical conservation organisation in the United Kingdom and a registered charity. It was founded in 1978 to combine the talents of b ...

National Collection held by Longstock Park Nursery near Stockbridge,

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, at the

Sir Harold Hillier Gardens The Sir Harold Hillier Gardens is an arboretum comprising 72 hectares (180 acres) accommodating over 42,000 trees and shrubs in about 12,000 taxa, notably a collection of oaks, camellia, magnolia and rhododendron. The Gardens are located nor ...

, near

Romsey Romsey ( ) is a historic market town in the county of Hampshire, England. Romsey was home to the 17th-century philosopher and economist William Petty and the 19th-century British prime minister, Lord Palmerston, whose statue has stood in the t ...

, and at the Savill Garden in

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

. The shrub should be pruned in spring to maintain shape.

Suppliers

''Buddleja stenostachya'' is in commerce in the UK; vendors can be found in the RHS's ''Plantfinder'

References

Literature

*Brown, R. (ex C. Martius). (1996). Loganiceae, in Wu, Z. & Raven, P. (eds) ''Flora of China'', Vol. 15. Science Press, Beijing, and Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis, USA. vol. 15 (1996)
online at www.efloras.org
* Leeuwenberg, A. J. M. (1979) ''The Loganiaceae of Africa XVIII Buddleja L. II, Revision of the African & Asiatic species''. H. Veenman & Zonen B. V., Wageningen, Netherlands. {{Taxonbar, from=Q4984721 Buddleja, stenostachya Flora of China