Buddleja globosa

Buddleja globosa
Buddleja globosa
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Lamiales
Family: Buddlejaceae
Genus: Buddleja
Species: B. globosa
Binomial name
Buddleja globosa
Hope
Synonyms
  • Buddleja capitataJacq.
  • Buddleja connataRuíz & Pav.
  • Buddleja globiferaDuhamel

Buddleja globosa, also known as the Orange Ball Buddleja, is a species native to Chile and Argentina, where it grows in dry and moist forest, from sea level to 2,000 m.[1] The species was first described and named by Hope in 1782 [2]

Contents

Description

B. globosa is a large dioecious shrub < 5 m tall, with grey fissured bark. The young branches are subquadrangular and tomentose, bearing sessile or subsessile lanceolate or elliptic leaves 5 - 15 cm long by 2 - 6 cm wide, glabrescent and bullate above and tomentose below. The deep-yellow to orange leafy-bracted inflorescences comprise one terminal and < 7 pairs of pedunculate globose heads, 1.2 - 2.8 cm in diameter, each with 30 - 50 flowers, heavily honey-scented.[1]

Cultivation

B. globosa was first introduced to the UK from Chile in 1774, and is now commonly grown as an ornamental and landscape shrub in North America and Europe, proving fairly frost-hardy in the UK. Unlike B. davidii, introduced over a century later, B. globosa is not invasive, owing to its dioecious nature, and wingless seeds.[1]

Uses

Folk medicine attributes to B. globosa wound healing properties, and the infusion of the leaves is used topically for the treatment or wounds, burns and external and internal ulcers. Chemical studies of this species have allowed to isolate glycosidic flavonoids (Marín et al., 1979), phenylethanoids including verbascoside[3], iridoids (Houghton y Hikino, 1989), triterpenoids (López et al., 1979), di and sesquiterpenoids (Houghton et al., 1996; Liao et al., 1999).

Hybrids

B. globosa was hybridized with B. davidii 'Magnifica' by Van de Weyer at his nursery at Corfe, England, during the First World War. Named × weyeriana, the hybrid remains unique as a cross between Asiatic and American species. There are popular cultivars of this cross, notably 'Sungold'.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Norman, E. M. (2000). Buddlejaceae. Flora Neotropica 81. New York Botanical Garden, USA
  2. ^ Hope, J. (1782). Verh. Holl. Maatsch. Weetensch. Haarlem 20(2): 417-418. t.11. 1782.
  3. ^ Pardo F, Perich F, Villarroel L, Torres R (August 1993). "Isolation of verbascoside, an antimicrobial constituent of Buddleja globosa leaves". J Ethnopharmacol 39 (3): 221–222. doi:10.1016/0378-8741(93)90041-3. PMID 8258981. 
  1. ^ a b c d Norman, E. M. (2000). Buddlejaceae. Flora Neotropica 81. New York Botanical Garden, USA
  2. ^ Hope, J. (1782). Verh. Holl. Maatsch. Weetensch. Haarlem 20(2): 417-418. t.11. 1782.
  3. ^ Pardo F, Perich F, Villarroel L, Torres R (August 1993). "Isolation of verbascoside, an antimicrobial constituent of Buddleja globosa leaves". J Ethnopharmacol 39 (3): 221–222. doi:10.1016/0378-8741(93)90041-3. PMID 8258981. 
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