Buddleja lindleyana is a deciduous

Deciduous

Deciduous means "falling off at maturity" or "tending to fall off", and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally, and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe...

 shrub

Shrub

A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...

 native to the provinces of Anhwei, Hunan

Hunan

' is a province of South-Central China, located to the south of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and south of Lake Dongting...

, Hupeh, Kiangsu, Shanghai

Shanghai

Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...

, Sichuan

Sichuan

' , known formerly in the West by its postal map spellings of Szechwan or Szechuan is a province in Southwest China with its capital in Chengdu...

, and Yunnan

Yunnan

Yunnan is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the far southwest of the country spanning approximately and with a population of 45.7 million . The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders Burma, Laos, and Vietnam.Yunnan is situated in a mountainous area, with...

 in China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

, where it grows in rocky scrub alongside streams and tracks at elevations of between 200 m and 2700 m. The shrub has also naturalized on Okinawa-jima

Okinawa Island

Okinawa Island is the largest of the Okinawa Islands and the Ryukyu Islands of Japan, and is home to Naha, the capital of Okinawa Prefecture. The island has an area of...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, and in the south-eastern states of the USA.

B. lindleyana was discovered by Forrest

George Forrest (botanist)

George Forrest was a Scottish botanist, who was one of the first explorers of China's then remote southwestern province of Yunnan, generally regarded as the most biodiverse province in the country....

 on the island of Chusan, and introduced to western cultivation in 1843 by Robert Fortune

Robert Fortune

Robert Fortune was a Scottish botanist and traveller best known for introducing tea plants from China to India.-Travels and botanical introductions to Europe:Fortune was born in Kelloe, Berwickshire...

, who named it for the botanist John Lindley

John Lindley

John Lindley FRS was an English botanist, gardener and orchidologist.-Early years:Born in Catton, near Norwich, England, John Lindley was one of four children of George and Mary Lindley. George Lindley was a nurseryman and pomologist and ran a commercial nursery garden...

 .

Description

B. lindleyana grows to < 3 m in height in the wild, its slender branches tetragonous in section, and slightly winged. The dark green leaves are opposite, ovate

Leaf shape

In botany, leaf shape is characterised with the following terms :* Acicular : Slender and pointed, needle-like* Acuminate : Tapering to a long point...

 and range from 4 to 20 cm in length. The individual purple flowers are arguably among the most attractive of the genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

, but occur in such small numbers intermittently along slender, terminal one-sided panicles as to make little impact; they are also scentless. Flowering occurs in June and July .

Cultivation

The shrub is hardy down to - 15 C. but needs protection from winter winds and is best grown on a south wall. In the UK, specimens are grown as part of the NCCPG national collection at Longstock Park

Longstock Park

Longstock Park is a country estate in the civil parish of Longstock in the Test Valley district of Hampshire, England. Formerly Longstock Manor, of medieval origins, it was purchased by Sir Joshua East in the nineteenth century. On his death, the estate passed to his sons Alfred and Arthur. In...

 Nursery, near Stockbridge

Stockbridge, Hampshire

Stockbridge is a small town and civil parish in Hampshire, England. It has an acreage of and a population of little under 600 people according to the 2001 census in Hampshire, England. It lies on the River Test, in the Test Valley district and renowned for trout fishing. The A30 road goes through...

, and at the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens

Sir Harold Hillier Gardens

The Sir Harold Hillier Gardens is an arboretum comprising 72 hectares accommodating over 42,000 trees and shrubs in about 12,000 taxa, notably a collection of oaks, camellia, magnolia and rhododendron....

, also in Hampshire .

Suppliers

The shrub is in commerce in the UK; vendors can be found in the RHS

Royal Horticultural Society

The Royal Horticultural Society was founded in 1804 in London, England as the Horticultural Society of London, and gained its present name in a Royal Charter granted in 1861 by Prince Albert...

's Plantfinder http://apps.rhs.org.uk/rhsplantfinder.