Buddleja longiflora is a rare species endemic to one small area of Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

, growing in fields high on the Serra do Caparaó at an altitude of 2400 m. The species was first described and named by Brade

Alexander Curt Brade

Alexander Curt Brade was a German botanist who specialized in the study of the orchids and ferns of Brazil. Brade also realized an important and early series of collections of the flora of Costa Rica between 1908 and 1910 with his brother Alfred, who lived in San Jose and owned a horticultural...

 in 1957.1, ed. quar. 2: 349. t. 186. 1818.

Description

B. longiflora is a 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...

 0.5 - 1 m high. The young branches are densely tomentose

Tomentose

Tomentose is a term used to describe plant hairs that are flattened and matted, forming a woolly coating known as tomentum. Often the hairs are silver or gray-colored...

, bearing lanceolate

Leaf shape

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

 leaves 10 - 17 cm long by 1.2 - 2.7 cm wide, glabrescent

Glabrousness

Glabrousness is the technical term for an anatomically atypical lack of hair, down, or similar structures...

 above, tomentose below, with petiole

Petiole (botany)

In botany, the petiole is the stalk attaching the leaf blade to the stem. The petiole usually has the same internal structure as the stem. Outgrowths appearing on each side of the petiole are called stipules. Leaves lacking a petiole are called sessile, or clasping when they partly surround the...

s 1 - 2.5 cm long. The yellowish orange inflorescence

Inflorescence

An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...

 is < 15 cm long, the flowers borne in paired 3 - 5 flowered cymes. The eponymous long flowers have corollas 35 - 42 mm long by 4 - 5 mm wide.

The species could be mistaken for B. speciosissima

Buddleja speciosissima

Buddleja speciosissima is a rare species restricted to Mount Itatiaia in Brazil, where it grows in rocky grassland at altitudes of 2,000 - 2,500 m; it was first described and named by Taubert in 1893. -Description:...

 found in nearby Itatiaia

Itatiaia National Park

Itatiaia National Park , established in 1937, is the oldest national park in Brazil. It is located on the border between Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais states, between 22º16’ - 22º28’ S and 44º34’ - 44º42’ W....

, but for minor differences in flower and leaf dimensions. It is possible B. longiflora could be classified as a subspecies

Subspecies

Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...

of the latter should more material be availed for examination.