BuddlejaFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Buddleia
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Scrophulariaceae
Genus: Buddleja L.
Species: ~ 100 species
Buddleja, often spelled Buddleia is a genus of flowering plants. It is now included in the Scrophulariaceae, though in the past was previously classified in either the Loganiaceae or in a family of its own, the Buddlejaceae. The plant was named after the Reverend Adam Buddle who was a botanist and a rector in Essex, England.
The roughly 100 species are mostly shrubs, a few being trees; the largest species reach 30 m tall, but most species rarely exceed 5 m tall. Both evergreen and deciduous species occur. They are native throughout the warmer parts of the New World from the southern United States south to Chile, and widely in the Old World in Africa and the warmer parts of Asia, but absent as natives from Europe and Australasia. The species are divided into two groups based on their floral type, those in the New World being dioecious, and those in the Old World being monoecious.
The leaves are lanceolate in most species, and arranged in opposite pairs on the stems (alternate in one species, B. alternifolia); they range from 1-30 cm long. The flowers are produced in dense panicles 10-50 cm long; each individual flower is tubular, about 1 cm long, with the corolla divided into four spreading lobes (petals), about 3-4 mm across. Flower colour varies widely, with white, pink, red, purple, orange or yellow flowers produced by different species and cultivars; they are rich in nectar and often strongly scented. The fruit is a small capsule about 1 cm long and 1-2 mm diameter, containing numerous small seeds; in a few species (previously classified in the separate genus Nicodemia) the capsule is soft and fleshy, forming a berry.
The roughly 100 species are mostly shrubs, a few being trees; the largest species reach 30 m tall, but most species rarely exceed 5 m tall. Both evergreen and deciduous species occur. They are native throughout the warmer parts of the New World from the southern United States south to Chile, and widely in the Old World in Africa and the warmer parts of Asia, but absent as natives from Europe and Australasia. The species are divided into two groups based on their floral type, those in the New World being dioecious, and those in the Old World being monoecious.
The leaves are lanceolate in most species, and arranged in opposite pairs on the stems (alternate in one species, B. alternifolia); they range from 1-30 cm long. The flowers are produced in dense panicles 10-50 cm long; each individual flower is tubular, about 1 cm long, with the corolla divided into four spreading lobes (petals), about 3-4 mm across. Flower colour varies widely, with white, pink, red, purple, orange or yellow flowers produced by different species and cultivars; they are rich in nectar and often strongly scented. The fruit is a small capsule about 1 cm long and 1-2 mm diameter, containing numerous small seeds; in a few species (previously classified in the separate genus Nicodemia) the capsule is soft and fleshy, forming a berry.
Nomenclature
The botanic name has been the source of some confusion. By the usual practice of botanical Latin, the spelling of a genus name made from "Buddle" would be "Buddleia". However, Linnaeus wrote it down as "Buddleja", and never changed it, so by the rule of naming priority, "Buddleja" should be preferred, though the i/j interchange could be modernized as an orthographical variant. Even so, the usage is confused, and inconsistencies are common, even within single texts.
The botanic name has been the source of some confusion. By the usual practice of botanical Latin, the spelling of a genus name made from "Buddle" would be "Buddleia". However, Linnaeus wrote it down as "Buddleja", and never changed it, so by the rule of naming priority, "Buddleja" should be preferred, though the i/j interchange could be modernized as an orthographical variant. Even so, the usage is confused, and inconsistencies are common, even within single texts.
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