| Buddleja lindleyana | |
|---|---|
| B. lindleyana flowers,
Longstock Park Nursery |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Asterids |
| Order: | Lamiales |
| Family: | Scrophulariaceae |
| Genus: | Buddleja |
| Species: | B. lindleyana |
| Binomial name | |
| Buddleja lindleyana Fortune |
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Buddleja lindleyana is a deciduous shrub native to the provinces of Anhwei, Hunan, Hupeh, Kiangsu, Shanghai, Sichuan, and Yunnan in China, where it grows in rocky scrub alongside streams and tracks at elevations of between 200 m and 2700 m. The shrub has also naturalized on Okinawa-jima, Japan, and in the south-eastern states of the USA. [1]
B. lindleyana was discovered by Forrest on the island of Chusan, and introduced to western cultivation in 1843 by Robert Fortune, who named it for the botanist John Lindley [2].
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B. lindleyana grows to < 3 m in height in the wild, its slender branches tetragonous in section, and slightly winged. The dark green leaves are opposite, ovate and range from 4 to 20 cm in length. The individual purple flowers are arguably among the most attractive of the genus, but occur in such small numbers intermittently along slender, terminal one-sided panicles as to make little impact; they are also scentless. Flowering occurs in June and July [2].
The shrub is hardy down to - 15 C. but needs protection from winter winds and is best grown on a south wall. In the UK, specimens are grown as part of the NCCPG national collection at Longstock Park Nursery, near Stockbridge, and at the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, also in Hampshire [2].
The shrub is in commerce in the UK; vendors can be found in the RHS's Plantfinder [1].