''Buddleja indica'' is an

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

shrub A shrub or 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 by their multiple ...

native to

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

, the

Comoro Islands The Comoro Islands are a group of volcanic islands in the Mozambique Channel, an arm of the Indian Ocean lying between Madagascar and the African mainland. Three of the islands form the Union of the Comoros, a sovereign nation, while Mayotte bel ...

, and the

Mascarene Islands The Mascarene Islands (, ) or Mascarenes or Mascarenhas Archipelago is a group of islands in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar consisting of islands belonging to the Republic of Mauritius as well as the French department of Réunion. Their na ...

, where it grows from the coast into the mountains up to elevations of 2000 m in either scrub or clearings. ''B. indica'' was named and described by

Lamarck Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, chevalier de Lamarck (1 August 1744 – 18 December 1829), often known simply as Lamarck (; ), was a French naturalist, biologist, academic, and soldier. He was an early proponent of the idea that biolo ...

in 1785.Stuart, D. (2006). ''Buddlejas''. Timber Press, Oregon, USA.

Description

''Buddleja indica'' grows to < 4 m in height in the wild, its branches climbing or trailing. The leaves are opposite, smooth, and dark green, ranging from 2 – 5 cm long by 2 – 5 cm wide, occasionally with petioles < 3 – 10 mm long. The leaf shape, as implied by the synonym, is extremely variable, from orbicular to oak-like. The small clusters of sparse and insignificant greenish yellow to yellow or white flowers are borne in the axils of the leaves at the end of the shoots.

Cultivation

Unable to tolerate temperatures below 10 °C and low humidity, ''B. indica'' is grown almost exclusively as a houseplant, notably in the US where it is often known as the oak-leaf buddleja. The shrub rarely flowers in cultivation, and is principally grown for its unusual foliage. In the UK, specimens are grown under glass 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 ...

and as part of the

NCCPG Plant Heritage, formerly known as the National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens (NCCPG), is a registered charity and a botanical conservation organisation in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1978 to combine the talents of bot ...

national collection at

Longstock Park Longstock Park is in the civil parish of Longstock in the Test Valley district of Hampshire, England, and forms part of the Leckford Estate (1520 ha.), wholly owned by the John Lewis Partnership. Description Formerly Longstock Manor, of ...

Nursery, near Stockbridge. Hardiness:

USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commerc ...

zone 10.

References

* Leeuwenberg, A. J. M. (1979) ''The Loganiaceae of Africa XVIII Buddleja L. II, Revision of the African & Asiatic species''. H. Veenman & Zonen, Wageningen, Nederland. {{Taxonbar, from=Q4984653 indica Flora of Madagascar