''Buddleja officinalis'' is a

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, a ...

early-spring flowering shrub native to west

Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The pr ...

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of th ...

, and

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the ...

provinces in China.Phillips, R. & Rix, M. (1989). ''Shrubs''. Pan Books, London. Discovered in 1875 by Pavel Piasetski,Bryce, W. J. (2007). Pavel Yakovlevich Pyatsetski (1843 – 1919): his botanical collections in China (1875) and paintings of Chinese gardens. ''Archives of Natural History''. Vol. 39, 171–174. , E-ISSN 1755-6260. Edinburgh University Press. a surgeon in the Russian army, ''B. officinalis'' was named and described by

Maximowicz Carl Johann Maximovich (also Karl Ivanovich Maximovich, Russian: Карл Иванович Максимович; 23 November 1827 in Tula, Russia – 16 February 1891 in Saint Petersburg) was a Russian botanist. Maximovich spent most of his lif ...

in 1880. Introduced to western cultivation in 1908, ''B. officinalis'' was accorded the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (No ...

Award of Merit The Award of Merit, or AM, is a mark of quality awarded to plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). The award was instituted in 1888, and given on the recommendation of Plant Committees to plants deemed "of great merit for exhibitio ...

three years later,Hillier & Sons. (1977). ''Hilliers' Manual of Trees and Shrubs, 4th Edition''. David & Charles, Newton Abbot, England. and the

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established annual award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. History The Award of Garden Merit ...

(record 689) in 2002.

Description

''Buddleja officinalis'' largely resembles the commoner ''B. davidii'' in shape and size, growing to less than 2.5 m in height. The inflorescences are honey-scented

mauve Mauve (, ; , ) is a pale purple color named after the mallow flower (French: ''mauve''). The first use of the word ''mauve'' as a color was in 1796–98 according to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'', but its use seems to have been rare befo ...

panicle A panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is ...

s, shorter (under 8 cm) than those of ''davidii'', and more conical. The leaves are

lanceolate The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regula ...

, under 15 cm long, softly pubescent, the upper surface rich green in colour, the underside grey. 2''n'' = 38.Chen, G, Sun, W-B, & Sun, H. (2007). Ploidy variation in Buddleja L. (Buddlejaceae) in the Sino - Himalayan region and its biogeographical implications. ''Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society.'' 2007, 154, 305 – 312. The Linnean Society of London.

Cultivation

''Buddleja officinalis'' is not fully frost hardy, unable to survive temperatures lower than −10° C, and is best grown against a south-facing wall. The shrub should be cut back hard each year immediately after flowering in spring. Propagation by softwood cuttings is easily accomplished, using

vermiculite Vermiculite is a hydrous phyllosilicate mineral which undergoes significant expansion when heated. Exfoliation occurs when the mineral is heated sufficiently, and commercial furnaces can routinely produce this effect. Vermiculite forms by the we ...

as a rooting medium. In the UK the shrub is often grown as a nectar source for vanessid butterflies such as the

peacock Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera ''Pavo (genus), Pavo'' and ''Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female pea ...

on emergence from hibernation.Brookes, A. H. (2007). Winter flowering buddlejas. ''Plant Heritage: Hampshire and Isle of Wight Group, Spring 2007.''. Plant Heritage, UK. Hardiness: RHS H2, USDA zones 8 – 9. One notable cultivar of ''B. officinalis'' is ''Buddleja'' 'Winter Sun'.

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. *Li, P. T. & Leeuwenberg, A. J. M. (1996). Loganiaceae, in Wu, Z. & Raven, P. (eds) ''Flora of China'', Vol. 15. Science Press, Beijing, and Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis, USA.
online at www.efloras.org
{{Taxonbar, from=Q4984693

officinalis ''Officinalis'', or ''officinale'', is a Medieval Latin epithet denoting organisms—mainly plants—with uses in medicine, herbalism and cookery. It commonly occurs as a specific epithet, the second term of a two-part botanical name. ''Officinali ...

Flora of China