Buddleja indica
Encyclopedia
Buddleja indica is an evergreen
Evergreen
In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant that has leaves in all seasons. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage during the winter or dry season.There are many different kinds of evergreen plants, both trees and shrubs...

 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 Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...

, Comoro
Comoro
Comoro may refer to:*Comoro Islands, an archipelago lying between Madagascar and the African continent*Comoros, a country ruling three of the four major islands of this archipelago and claiming the fourth*Grande Comore, the principal island of this country...

, and the Mascarene Islands
Mascarene Islands
The Mascarene Islands is a group of islands in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar comprising Mauritius, Réunion, Rodrigues, Cargados Carajos shoals, plus the former islands of the Saya de Malha, Nazareth and Soudan banks...

, where it grows from the coast into the mountains up to elevations of 2000 m in either scrub or clearings. B. indica was named and described by Lamarck
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, Chevalier de la Marck , often known simply as Lamarck, was a French naturalist...

 in 1785.

Description

B. indica grows to < 4 m in height in the wild, its branches climbing or trailing. The leaves are opposite, smooth, and dark green, ranging from 2 to 5 cm long by 2 to 5 cm wide, occasionally with petioles < 3 - 10 mm long. The leaf shape, as implied by the synonym, is extremely variable, from orbicular
Leaf shape
In botany, leaf shape is characterised with the following terms :* Acicular : Slender and pointed, needle-like* Acuminate : Tapering to a long point...

 to oak-like. The small clusters of sparse and insignificant greenish yellow to yellow or white flowers are borne in the axils of the leaves at the end of the shoots.

Cultivation

Unable to tolerate temperatures below 10° C and low humidity, B. indica is grown almost exclusively as a houseplant, notably in the USA where it is often known as the Oak-Leaf Buddleja. The shrub rarely flowers in cultivation, and is principally grown for its unusual foliage. In the UK, specimens are grown under glass at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh is a scientific centre for the study of plants, their diversity and conservation, as well as a popular tourist attraction. Originally founded in 1670 as a physic garden to grow medicinal plants, today it occupies four sites across Scotland — Edinburgh,...

 and 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...

.

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.
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