| Buddleja fallowiana | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Asterids |
| Order: | Lamiales |
| Family: | Scrophulariaceae |
| Genus: | Buddleja |
| Species: | B. fallowiana |
| Binomial name | |
| Buddleja fallowiana Balf. f. & W. W. Sm. |
|
Buddleja fallowiana is endemic to the Yunnan province in western China, where it grows in open woodland, along forest edges and watercourses. [1] The plant was named in 1917 by Balfour and Smith for George Fallow, a gardener at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh killed in Egypt during the First World War. [2]
Contents |
B. fallowiana is a deciduous shrub typically growing to a height of < 4 m, of vigorous, loose habit. The young shoots are clothed with a dense white felt. The leaves are lanceolate, tapering to a fine point, with shallowly toothed margins. The size of the leaves varies considerably according to the vigour of the shoot, and can reach 25 cm long by 8 cm wide, the upper surfaces glabrescent and dark-green, the lower surfaces densely tomentose. The inflorescences are narrow panicles at the ends of the current year's, shoots, 20 - 35 cm long by 2.5 - 3 cm wide, comprising very fragrant densely crowded lavender coloured flowers, the corollas 10 mm long. The flowers bloom in late summer and autumn. [1]
Somewhat tender, B. fallowiana is best grown against a wall. However, if cut to the ground by frost, it will grow again from the base. Growth is significantly slower than that of B. davidii, the species more closely allied to B. nivea. [1]
B. fallowiana most famously hybridized with B. davidii to create the popular cultivar 'Lochinch'.
The shrub is in commerce in the UK, suppliers can be found using the RHS 'Plantfinder' [1].