Buddleja lindleyana seed

LATIN NAME: Buddleja lindleyana

COMMON NAME: Lindley’s Butterfly Bush, Weeping Butterfly Bush

Lindley’s butterfly bush is a graceful and generous shrub of the summer garden, and its long, arching spikes of purple bloom are a magnet for the butterflies. It grows as a deciduous shrub, reaching up to three metres, with arching, often weeping branches bearing narrow, pointed leaves and, through the summer, long, slender, upright or arching spikes of many small, tubular, purple or lilac flowers, each with a sweet scent, which draw the butterflies and the bees in great numbers, followed by the small capsules of many tiny seeds. It is native to the provinces of Anhui, Hunan, Hubei, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Sichuan and Yunnan in China, where it grows in the rocky scrub alongside the streams and the tracks, and it is grown as a valued shrub of the butterfly garden.

Lindley’s butterfly bush belongs to the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae, and it is a deciduous shrub native to the provinces of Anhui, Hunan, Hubei, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Sichuan and Yunnan in China. It grows in the rocky scrub alongside the streams and the tracks, and it is grown for its arching spikes of purple bloom and its value to the butterflies.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

Lindley’s butterfly bush has a genuine and growing place in both horticultural and ecological research. It has been studied in horticulture, since it is a graceful and generous ornamental shrub, prized for its arching spikes of purple bloom and its value to the butterflies, and researchers have examined its cultivation, its growth and its value in the garden, while the butterfly bushes as a whole are among the most valued of the pollinator plants, and the long flowering season of the shrub has been examined. The shrub has also been studied in ecology, since it is a native of the Chinese scrub and it has been grown in other regions, and researchers have examined its role in the garden ecology, its value to the butterflies and the bees and its behaviour in the regions where it has been introduced, while the pollinator value of the butterfly bushes has drawn attention in the international gardening and conservation press as a plant of the wildlife garden. The species has also been studied in botany, since it is a member of the figwort family, and its classification and its relationships have been examined. For a shrub of such grace and such service, Lindley’s butterfly bush has a steady and growing record of research.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

Ecologically, Lindley’s butterfly bush is a generous shrub of the summer garden. Its sweet, purple flowers feed the butterflies, the bees and the moths through a long season, and its arching branches give shelter, while it is a graceful presence in the gardens and the scrub of its native China.

Its economic value is real. It is a graceful ornamental shrub, grown in the gardens and the borders, and its value to the butterflies and the bees has drawn attention in the international gardening and conservation press as a plant of the wildlife garden, while the butterfly bushes are among the most planted of the pollinator shrubs. For a grower, Lindley’s butterfly bush is an easy and generous shrub, and for a gardener it brings arching spikes of purple bloom and a cloud of butterflies. The seeds are easy — sow them in a pot of moist, free-draining compost in a sunny spot, keep them lightly watered, and they’ll sprout within a couple of weeks, growing on into a graceful, butterfly-covered shrub.