Buddleja racemosa, commonly known as the Wand (or Texas) Butterfly Bush, is endemic to the southern edge of the limestone Edwards Plateau

Edwards Plateau

The Edwards Plateau is a region of west-central Texas which is bounded by the Balcones Fault to the south and east, the Llano Uplift and the Llano Estacado to the north, and the Pecos River and Chihuahuan Desert to the west. San Angelo, Austin, San Antonio and Del Rio roughly outline the area...

 in Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, USA, from Austin

Austin, Texas

Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...

 to Rocksprings

Rocksprings, Texas

Rocksprings is a town in Edwards County, Texas, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the town population was 1,285. It is the county seat of Edwards County. The town received its name from natural springs that bubble forth from the porous limestone rocks in the area.-History:J. R. Sweeten...

, growing around streams, creeks and springs at elevations of 250 -750 m. The plant was first named and described by John Torrey in 1859.

Description

B. racemosa is a small, lax, dioecious

Dioecious

Dioecy is the property of a group of biological organisms that have males and females, but not members that have organs of both sexes at the same time. I.e., those whose individual members can usually produce only one type of gamete; each individual organism is thus distinctly female or male...

 shrub 0.3 - 1.5 m tall, with greyish-brown rimose bark and persistent old branches. The young branches are terete, 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...

 and glandular, bearing small subcoriaceous ovate-oblong to 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 3 - 10 cm long by 1.5 - 4 cm wide, 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 <2 cm long. The pale yellow inflorescences are 8 - 30 cm long, usually comprising 8 - 12 pairs of small globose heads 0.5 - 0.7 cm in diameter, each head with 6 - 12 flowers.

Varieties

Norman identifies two varieties distinguished by the number of stellate hairs on the undersides of the leaves:

• Buddleja racemosa var. incana
• Buddleja racemosa var. racemosa