Buddleja nitida
Buddleja nitida is a species endemic to much of Central America, from southern Chiapas in Mexico south to the Sierra [de Talamanca] in northern Panama, where it grows on limestone slopes, in cloud forest, in clearings and pastures at altitudes of 2,000 - 4,000 m. The species was first named and described by Bentham in 1846.
Description
Buddleja nitida is a tall shrub or small tree 4 – 15 m high, with a trunk < 60 cm in diameter, its exfoliating bark brown to black. The crown is dense and rounded, the young branches subquadrangular and tomentose, bearing oblong to lanceolate subcoriaceous leaves 3 - 10 cm long by 1 - 3.5 cm wide, glabrescent above, but with a strongly adpressed tomentum below. The leaves have petioles 1 - 3 cm long. The yellow to orange inflorescence is paniculate, with 3 - 4 orders of branches, subtended by leaves or small bracts, the flowers grouped 3 - 5 in small cymules, 5 - 7 mm in diameter; the corollas 2.5 - 3 mm long. Ploidy: 2n = 76.