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smoke bush

escobilla butterfly-bush

Habit Shrubs, climbing, sarmentose, 20–50 dm. Shrubs, 3–12 dm.
Stems

branched, tomentose.

much-branched, tomentose and glandular.

Leaves

often with globular stipular lines;

petiole 5–15 mm;

blade ovate to elliptic, 8–15 × 2–5 cm, base rounded, margins entire, apex acuminate, abaxial surface tomentose, adaxial glabrous or glabrate.

stipular lines faint;

petiole 0 mm;

blade grayish, oblong to linear, 1–3 × 0.3–0.8 cm, base cuneate or attenuate, margins coarsely crenate, apex obtuse, surfaces glandular-tomentose.

Inflorescences

terminal, tapering-spicate thyrses, 5–25 × 3–5 cm, cymes 10–25 pairs, 5–15-flowered.

terminal, pseudoverticillate spikes, 2–10 × 0.4–0.7 cm, cymes 3–15 pairs, 6–15-flowered.

Pedicels

essentially absent;

bracteoles present.

absent;

bracteoles absent.

Flowers

slightly fragrant;

calyx tomentose externally, tube 2–3 mm, lobes 0.5–1 mm;

corolla yellowish orange, salverform, tube 7–9 mm, lobes suborbiculate, 2.5–3.5 × 2–3 mm;

stamens inserted proximal to throat of corolla tube, included in tube;

ovary subglobular, 1–1.5 mm, tomentose at tip;

stigma clavate, 1–1.5 mm.

fragrant;

calyx thickly tomentose externally, tube 1.5–1.8 mm, lobes 0.2–0.5 mm;

corolla lemon yellow or greenish yellow, funnelform, tube 1.5–2 mm, lobes oblong, 1–1.5 × 0.5–0.9 mm;

stamens inserted at orifice of corolla tube, included in tube;

ovary globular, 0.5–1 mm, glandular-tomentose;

stigma clavate, slightly 2-lobed at apex, 0.3–0.5 mm.

Fruits

berries, bluish purple, globular, 2.5–5 × 2.5–5 mm, papillose, indehiscent.

capsules, grayish green, subglobular, 1.5–2.5 × 1.5 mm, densely glandular-tomentulose at apex, indehiscent.

Seeds

ovoid, 0.6–0.9 × 0.5–0.6 mm, wings absent.

ovoid, 0.7–0.8 × 0.5–0.6 mm, wings absent.

2n

= 38.

= 38.

Buddleja madagascariensis

Buddleja scordioides

Phenology Flowering Mar–May; fruiting not known in continental United States. Flowering May–Aug; fruiting Sep–Nov.
Habitat Roadsides. Roadsides, rangeland, thorn scrub.
Elevation 10–20 m. (0–100 ft.) 600–1400 m. (2000–4600 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
FL; Indian Ocean Islands (Madagascar) [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Mexico, West Indies (Cuba, Puerto Rico), South America (Argentina, Uruguay), Europe (Greece), Africa (Republic of South Africa), Indian Ocean Islands (Mauritius, Réunion), Pacific Islands (Fiji, Hawaii, New Caledonia, New Zealand), Australia]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; NM; TX; Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Buddleja madagascariensis is considered a serious invader in Hawaii at 900–1200 m, where it sets abundant fruits (Hawaii Invasive Species Council, https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/hisc/info/species/smoke-bush/); this contrasts with the report by A. J. M. Leeuwenberg (1979) that he had observed specimens with fruits only from Crete, Madagascar, and Mauritius.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Buddleja scordioides is weedy and grows on limestone or gypsum soils in the trans-Pecos region of Texas with Flourensia cernua, Larrea tridentata, and Senegalia greggii, and in semixeric areas in central Arizona and southeastern New Mexico. It occurs also in Mexico, throughout the Chihuahuan Desert and as far south as México, at elevations to 2500 m.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 17, p. 329. FNA vol. 17, p. 331.
Parent taxa Scrophulariaceae > Buddleja Scrophulariaceae > Buddleja
Sibling taxa
B. davidii, B. indica, B. lindleyana, B. marrubiifolia, B. racemosa, B. saligna, B. scordioides, B. sessiliflora, B. utahensis
B. davidii, B. indica, B. lindleyana, B. madagascariensis, B. marrubiifolia, B. racemosa, B. saligna, B. sessiliflora, B. utahensis
Synonyms Nicodemia madagascariensis
Name authority Lamarck: in J. Lamarck et al., Encycl. 1: 513. (1785) — (as Budleia) Kunth: in A. von Humboldt et al., Nov. Gen. Sp. 2(fol.): 278; 2(qto.): 345; plate 183. (1818)
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