Buddleja soratae
Encyclopedia
Buddleja soratae is a rare species endemic to one small area of Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...

 around Sorata
Sorata
Sorata is a small town in the La Paz Department in the Bolivian Andes, northwest of the city of La Paz and east of Lake Titicaca. It is the seat of the Larecaja Province and the Sorata Municipality. At the time of census 2001 it had a population of 2,217....

, growing along forest edges at altitudes of 2,700 - 3,200 m; it was first described and named by Kraenzlin
Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Kraenzlin
Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Kränzlin In the history of the European study of South African orchids, Fritz Kränzlin appears after Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach describing many new orchids in the region, and revising some of the genera...

 in 1913.

Description

B. soratae is a 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 or small tree 5 - 6 m high. The younger branches are quadrangular, the youngest sections tomentose
Tomentum
Tomentum may refer to the following:*In botany, a covering of closely matted or fine hairs on plant leaves. *A network of minute blood vessels in the brain.* Tomentum in zoology are a short, soft pubescence...

, bearing membranaceous lanceolate to elliptic
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 with 0.5 - 1 cm petioles, and are 7 - 14 cm long by 2 - 4 cm wide, glabrescent above but tomentose
Tomentum
Tomentum may refer to the following:*In botany, a covering of closely matted or fine hairs on plant leaves. *A network of minute blood vessels in the brain.* Tomentum in zoology are a short, soft pubescence...

 below. The orange leafy-bracted
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...

 inflorescences are 12 - 15 cm long by 10 - 15 cm wide, comprising 2 -3 orders of branches bearing cymes of 6 - 9 flowers on peduncle
Peduncle (botany)
In botany, a peduncle is a stem supporting an inflorescence, or after fecundation, an infructescence.The peduncle is a stem, usually green and without leaves, though sometimes colored or supporting small leaves...

s 0.5 - 1  cm long.

B. soratae is considered very similar to B. cardanasii and B. multiceps, differing from the latter only in the shape of the leaves.
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