Buddleja jamesonii

Buddleja jamesonii is a species endemic to southern Ecuador, where it grows in moist, protected ravines and borders of tussocks at elevations of 3,000 - 4,000 m. The species, first named and described by Bentham in 1846, is now threatened by habitat loss. The specific name commemorates the Scottish botanist William Jameson (botanist [born 1796)|William Jameson] who collected in Ecuador.

Description

Buddleja jamesonii is a trioecious shrub 0.5 - 1.5 m high with greyish fissured bark at the base. The stems are subquadrangular and lanose, crowded with leaves on short axillary branches. The leaves are sessile, lanceolate and comparatively small, 3 - 4 cm long by 1 - 2 cm wide, lanose on both sides. The cream inflorescence typically comprises just one terminal head, occasionally with a pair of additional sessile heads, each 0.8 - 1.6 cm in diameter, with 15 - 30 flowers. The corolla is 3.5 - 4.5 mm long.

The shrub is not known to be in cultivation.