''Buddleja americana'' is the most widespread of all the ''

Buddleja ''Buddleja'' (; ''Buddleia''; also historically given as ''Buddlea'') is a genus comprising over 140 species of flowering plants endemic to Asia, Africa, and the Americas. The generic name bestowed by Linnaeus posthumously honoured the Revere ...

'' species native to the Americas, its range extending south from

Tamaulipas Tamaulipas (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas), is a state in the northeast region of Mexico; one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal Entiti ...

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

, through

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

and much of the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Great ...

into

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the souther ...

, reaching

east East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...

ward to

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in ...

, westward as far as the Galapagos, and south to

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

. It occurs at elevations from sea level to 2500 m, in a variety of habitats, including cloud forest, mountain savanna, pine - oak forest, and rocky slopes near rivers. It also invades fields and roadsides.Norman, E. M. (2000). Buddlejaceae. ''Flora Neotropica 81'', New York Botanical Garden, USA The species was originally named and described by

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, t ...

in 1753.Linnaeus, C. (1753). ''Sp. pl.'' 112. 1753.

Description

''B. americana'' is a trioecious shrub, 2–5 m tall with light brown fissured bark. The young branches are sub quadrangular, and

tomentose Trichomes (); ) are fine outgrowths or appendages on plants, algae, lichens, and certain protists. They are of diverse structure and function. Examples are hairs, glandular hairs, scales, and papillae. A covering of any kind of hair on a plan ...

, bearing leaves which vary greatly in size, shape and

indumentum In biology, an indumentum (Latin, literally: "garment") is a covering of trichomes (fine "hairs") on a plantDavis, Peter Hadland and Heywood, Vernon Hilton (1963) ''Principles of angiosperm taxonomy'' Van Nostrandpage, Princeton, New Jersey, page ...

. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed ...

s are 5–25 cm long, with one or two orders of branches. The flowers are borne in cymules, the short (< 2.5 mm)

corolla Corolla may refer to: *Corolla (botany), the petals of a flower, considered as a unit *Toyota Corolla, an automobile model name * Corolla (headgear), an ancient headdress in the form of a circlet or crown * ''Corolla'' (gastropod), a genus of moll ...

s yellow inside and white outside. Unlike many American species of ''Buddleja'', which are often diploid, ''B. americana'' is

tetraploid Polyploidy is a condition in which the cells of an organism have more than one pair of (homologous) chromosomes. Most species whose cells have nuclei (eukaryotes) are diploid, meaning they have two sets of chromosomes, where each set contains ...

(2n = 76).

Cultivation

The species is not cold hardy, and quickly killed by temperatures only marginally below freezing. 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 ...

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

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4984417

americana Americana may refer to: *Americana (music), a genre or style of American music *Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1992 TV series), a documentary series presented by J ...

Flora of Mexico Flora of Central America Flora of the Caribbean Flora of South America Flora of Belize Flora of Bolivia Flora of Colombia Flora of Cuba Flora of El Salvador Flora of Guatemala Flora of Honduras Flora of Jamaica Flora of Martinique Flora of Nicaragua Flora of Panama Flora of Venezuela Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Flora without expected TNC conservation status