''Buddleja polycephala'' is a shrub

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

to southern

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar language, Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechuan ...

and areas around

Ayabaca Ayabaca is a town in the highlands of the Piura Region in northwestern Peru, near the border with Ecuador. It is located in the Ayabaca Province and is capital of that province and Ayabaca District, to the southeast of the Ecuadorian border town ...

and

Piura Piura is a city in northwestern Peru located in the Sechura Desert on the Piura River. It is the capital of the Piura Region and the Piura Province. Its population was 484,475 as of 2017. It was here that Spanish Conqueror Francisco Pizarro ...

, and

Cajamarca Cajamarca (), also known by the Quechua name, ''Kashamarka'', is the capital and largest city of the Cajamarca Region as well as an important cultural and commercial center in the northern Andes. It is located in the northern highlands of Peru ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

, at elevations of 2,000 – 2,700 m. The species was first named and described by

Kunth Carl Sigismund Kunth (18 June 1788 – 22 March 1850), also Karl Sigismund Kunth or anglicized as Charles Sigismund Kunth, was a German botanist. He is known for being one of the first to study and categorise plants from the American continent ...

in 1818.Kunth, in Humboldt, Bonpland, and Kunth. (1818). ''Nov. gen. sp., ed. fol.'' 2:279, ed. quar. 2:346, 1818.Norman, E. M. (2000). Buddlejaceae. ''Flora Neotropica 81'', pp. 135 - 141. New York Botanical Garden, USA

Description

''Buddleja polycephala'' is a

dioecious Dioecy (; ; adj. dioecious , ) is a characteristic of a species, meaning that it has distinct individual organisms (unisexual) that produce male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproducti ...

sprawling shrub 1 – 5 m tall. The young branches are 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 ovate or ovate-lanceolate membranaceous leaves 9 – 25 cm long by 4 – 10 cm wide, initially thickly tomentose but later

glabrescent Glabrousness (from the Latin '' glaber'' meaning "bald", "hairless", "shaved", "smooth") is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part of ...

above, but remaining tomentose below. The yellowish white inflorescences are 15 – 40 cm long, and as wide at the base, with leafy-bracted primary and secondary branches

perpendicular In elementary geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at a right angle (90 degrees or π/2 radians). The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the ''perpendicular symbol'', ⟂. It can ...

to each other. The flowers are borne as compact heads, approximately 1 cm in diameter, each with around 20 flowers, the

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 3 mm long.

Cultivation

The species is not known to be in cultivation.

Varieties

Norman identifies two varieties, both distinguished by minor differences in the leaves: * ''Buddleja polycephala'' Kunth var. ''polycephala'' * ''Buddleja polycephala'' Kunth var. ''peruviana'' (J. F. Macbr.) E. M. Norman

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4984701 polycephala Flora of Ecuador Flora of Peru Flora of South America Dioecious plants