Butterfly Bush

Buddleja alternifolia Scrophulariaceae

Growth habit

Shrub

Perennation

Long-lived polycarpic perennial

Native distribution

China

Location

Zucker Shrub Collection

Source of plant

Crownsville Nursery

Description

A vigorous deciduous shrub resembling B. davidii except in having stems terete or subangular, to 3m tall. Leaves opposite, 8-30x2-10cm, lanceolate, tip acuminate, base cuneate, margins toothed, more or less glabrous above, densely soft-hairy beneath; petiole short, to 15mm. Inflorescence a terminal, narrow, nearly cylindric panicle, to 25x5cm; flowers fragrant; corolla 5-8mm, outside glabrous or partly stellate-tomentose, lobes nearly rounded, lilac.

USDA Hardiness Zone

5