Buddleja sterniana was a species sunk as Buddleja crispa by Leeuwenberg in 1979,Leeuwenberg, A. J. M. (1979) The Loganiaceae of Africa XVIII Buddleja L. II, Revision of the African & Asiatic species. H. Veenman & Zonen, Wageningen, Nederland. and treated as such in the subsequent Flora of China.Li, P. T. & Leeuwenberg, A. J. M. (1996). Loganiaceae, in Wu, Z. & Raven, P. (eds) Flora of China, Vol. 15. Science Press, Beijing, and Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis, USA. online at www.efloras.org However, the plant remains widely known by its former epithet in horticulture.
The shrub's origin is uncertain but, as it was originally collected by Forrest, may reasonably be assumed to be from Yunnan, China. Seed was distributed in the UK by Reginald Cory in 1922.Cotton, A. D. (1947). The spring-flowering buddleias (sic). R H S Journal, Vol 72 1947 pp 428-430.
Description Buddleja sterniana is a deciduous multistemmed shrub often growing to > 3 m high, when it can become straggly unless pruned hard. The faintly-scented flowers are pale lavender, with an orange eye, and arranged in small (< 6 cm long) panicles, which appear before the leaves on the previous year's growth, during April in the UK. The leaves are much smaller than those of the type; the undersides are typically covered with a white tomentum.
Cultivation The shrub was originally grown at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, but by the Second World War only survived in the UK in the Chalk Garden of the eponymous Colonel Stern in Worthing, Sussex.Stern, F. C. (1960). A chalk garden. Faber & Faber, London, 1974 (2nd ed.). Softwood cuttings can easily be struck in June. The shrub now features in the NCCPG National Collection held by the Longstock Park Nursery, near Stockbridge, in Hampshire, England. All the specimens in commerce probably derive from Forrest seed collections.Bean, W. J. (1914). Trees and shrubs hardy in the British Isles. Eighth edition, revised by D. L. Clarke, 1989. Vol. 1, A-C. Murray, London. Hardiness: USDA zones 8–9.Stuart, D. (2006). Buddlejas. Plant Collector Guide. Timber Press, Oregon, USA.
References
Literature Bean, W. J. (1970). Trees & Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles, 8th ed., Vol. 1.. (2nd impression 1976) London Hillier & Sons. Hillier's Manual of Trees & Shrubs, 5th ed.. (1990). David & Charles, Newton Abbot. Leeuwenberg, A. J. M. (1979) The Loganiaceae of Africa XVIII Buddleja L. II, Revision of the African & Asiatic species. H. Veenman & Zonen B. V., Wageningen, Netherlands. Stuart, D. (2006). Buddlejas. Timber Press, Oregon, USA.