''Buddleja sterniana'' was a species sunk as ''

Buddleja crispa ''Buddleja crispa'', the Himalayan butterfly bush, is a deciduous shrub native to Afghanistan, Bhutan, North India, Nepal, Pakistan and China (Gansu, Sichuan, Tibetan Autonomous Region), where it grows on dry river beds, slopes with boulders, exp ...

'' by Leeuwenberg in 1979,Leeuwenberg, A. J. M. (1979) ''The Loganiaceae of Africa XVIII Buddleja L. II, Revision of the African & Asiatic species''. H. Veenman & Zonen, Wageningen, Nederland. and treated as such in the subsequent ''Flora of China''.Li, P. T. & Leeuwenberg, A. J. M. (1996). Loganiaceae, in Wu, Z. & Raven, P. (eds) ''Flora of China'', Vol. 15. Science Press, Beijing, and Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis, USA.
online at www.efloras.org
/ref> however, the plant remains widely known by its former epithet in horticulture. The shrub's origin is uncertain but, as it was originally collected by Forrest, may reasonably be assumed to be from

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...

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 ...

. Seed was distributed in the UK by Reginald Cory in 1922.Cotton, A. D. (1947). The spring-flowering buddleias (sic). ''R H S Journal, Vol 72'' 1947 pp 428-430.

Description

''Buddleja sterniana'' 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 ...

multistemmed

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

often growing to > 3 m high, when it can become straggly unless pruned hard. The faintly-scented flowers are pale lavender, with an orange eye, and arranged in small (< 6 cm long) panicles, which appear before the leaves on the previous year's growth, during April in the UK. The leaves are much smaller than those of the type; the undersides are typically covered with a white

tomentum Tomentum may refer to: * Plant trichomes, a covering of closely matted or fine hairs on plant leaves. * Tomentum (anatomy), short, soft pubescence or a covering of fine, soft hairs. {{disambig ...

Cultivation

The shrub was originally grown at the

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is a scientific centre for the study of plants, their diversity and conservation, as well as a popular tourist attraction. Founded in 1670 as a physic garden to grow medicinal plants, today it occupies ...

, but by the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

only survived in the UK in the Chalk Garden of the

eponymous An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

Colonel Stern in

Worthing Worthing () is a seaside town in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of Chichester. With a population of 111,400 and an area of , the borough is the second largest component of the Brighton and Hov ...

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

.Stern, F. C. (1960). ''A chalk garden''. Faber & Faber, London, 1974 (2nd ed.). Softwood cuttings can easily be struck in June. The shrub now features in 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 the Longstock Park Nursery, near Stockbridge, in

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 ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. All the specimens in commerce probably derive from Forrest seed collections.Bean, W. J. (1914). ''Trees and shrubs hardy in the British Isles''. Eighth edition, revised by D. L. Clarke, 1989. Vol. 1, A-C. Murray, London. Hardiness:

USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...

zones 8–9.Stuart, D. (2006). ''Buddlejas''. Plant Collector Guide. Timber Press, Oregon, USA.

References

Literature

*Bean, W. J. (1970). ''Trees & Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles, 8th ed., Vol. 1.''. (2nd impression 1976) London *Hillier & Sons. ''Hillier's Manual of Trees & Shrubs, 5th ed.''. (1990). David & Charles, Newton Abbot. *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. *Stuart, D. (2006). ''Buddlejas''. Timber Press, Oregon, USA. {{Taxonbar, from=Q4984724 sterniana Flora of China