| Buddleja davidii | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Asterids |
| Order: | Lamiales |
| Family: | Buddlejaceae |
| Genus: | Buddleja |
| Species: | B. davidii |
| Binomial name | |
| Buddleja davidii Franch. |
|
Buddleja davidii (spelling variant Buddleia davidii), also called summer lilac, butterfly-bush, or orange eye, is a native of Sichuan and Hubei provinces in central China and of Japan.[1] It is widely used as an ornamental plant, and many named varieties are in cultivation. B. davidii, named for the French explorer in China, Father Armand David, who first noticed the shrub, was found near Ichang by Dr Augustine Henry about 1887 and sent to St Petersburg. Another botanist-missionary in China, Jean André Soulié, provided seed to the French firm of nurserymen, Vilmorin, and B. davidii came on the Western market in the 1890s.[2]
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B. davidii is a vigorous shrub with an arching habit, growing to 5 m in height. The pale brown bark becomes deeply fissured with age. The branches are quadrangular in section, the younger shoots covered in a dense indumentum. The opposite lanceolate leaves are 7 – 13 cm long, tomentose beneath when young. The honey-scented lilac to purple inflorescences are terminal panicles, < 20 cm long.[3] Flowers have both male and female parts hence are hermaphrodite rather than monoecious (separate male and female flowers on the same plant) as it is often incorrectly described.
Buddleja davidii is naturalized in most cities of central and southern Europe, where it can spread on wastelands and in gardens. It can be invasive in many countries, including the United Kingdom and New Zealand. Within the United States, it is widely established as an escape from cultivation, and classified as a noxious weed by the states of Oregon and Washington.
This species is not able to survive the harsh winters of northern continental climates, being killed by temperatures below about -15°C to -20°C. Even where it is not killed to the ground, in gardens it is generally partly stooled, with older shoots cut to the ground, as younger wood is more floriferous.
Buddleja davidii is appreciated in butterfly gardens for its value of its flowers as a nectar source for many species of butterflies. There are in excess of one hundred cultivars as well as numerous hybrids with B. globosa and B. fallowiana grown in gardens. Many of these cultivars are of a dwarf habit growing to no more than 1.5 metres.