''Buddleja × alata'' Rehder & E.H.Wilson is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

to western

Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...

, China, growing at elevations of 1,300–3,000 m; it was first described and named by Rehder and Wilson in 1913.Sargent, C. S. (1913). ''Plantae Wilsonianae''. An Enumeration of the Woody Plants Collected in Western China for the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University. 1(3): 570. 1913 5 May 1913 Arnold Arboretum, Cambridge, MA. Leeuwenberg found the plant to be such a perfect intermediate of '' Buddleja albiflora'' and '' Buddleja nivea'' as to consider it a

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two diff ...

of the two species.Leeuwenberg, A. J. M. (1979) ''The Loganiaceae of Africa XVIII Buddleja L. II, Revision of the African & Asiatic species''. Mededelingen Landbouwhogeschool Wageningen, Nederland.

Description

''Buddleja × alata'' grows to between heights of 1–3 m in the wild. The stems are

tetragon In geometry a quadrilateral is a four-sided polygon, having four edges (sides) and four corners (vertices). The word is derived from the Latin words ''quadri'', a variant of four, and ''latus'', meaning "side". It is also called a tetragon, ...

ous and winged. The leaves are

lanceolate The following terms are used to describe leaf plant morphology, morphology in the description and taxonomy (biology), taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (that is, the leaf blade or 'lamina' is undivided) or compound (that is, the leaf blade ...

, acuminate at the apex, 14–28 cm long, glabrous above, tomentose beneath. The

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

s, which appear in August, are narrow terminal and axillary

panicle In botany, a panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a p ...

s, 10–20 cm long, and comprise white flowers with yellow eyes.Phillips, R. & Rix, M. (1989). ''Shrubs''. The Pan Garden Plants Series. Pan, London.

Cultivation

The species is uncommon in cultivation.

References

* Li, B & 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=Q4984413 alata Endemic flora of China Flora of South-Central China Taxa named by Alfred Rehder Plants described in 1913