Notice

Colin Mills, compiler of the Hortus Camdenensis, died in late November 2012 after a short illness. As he always considered the Hortus his legacy, it is his family's intention to keep the site running in perpetuity. It will not, however, be updated in the near future.

Buddleja madagascariensis Lam.

Frost tender, vigorous, strongly branched evergreen shrub or lax climber, the young leaves and stems downy white, with lance-shaped leaves and bright orange-yellow flowers in pendulous terminal panicles, to 25cm long, from autumn to spring.  To 4m.  [RHSE, Hortus, Hilliers’].

Horticultural & Botanical History

‘This is a very desirable inmate of the stove, and may probably be found sufficiently hardy to bear the greenhouse.  The stem and underside of the leaves, clothed with a dense white or rust-coloured tomentum, form a singular contrast with the dark green of the upper surface of the leaves, and with the rich orange colour of the flowers, which yield a powerful honey-like smell.  It is a native of Madagascar, and appears to have been first gathered there by Sonnerat, who gave it the name of Vigne de Malgache.  Seeds have been sent to this country, by Dr. Wallich, from the Botanic Garden at Calcutta; and we had the pleasure of seeing it in flower, and the opportunity of figuring it at the Botanic Gardens of Edinburgh, and Kew, and Glasgow, almost at the same time, namely in the Autumn of 1827.’  [BM t.2824/1828].  BR f.1259/1829.

History at Camden Park

Listed in all published catalogues [T.183/1843].  There is a very large specimen in the gardens, 5-6 metres across, possibly a survivor from the earliest introduction.

Notes

Published Mar 02, 2009 - 04:21 PM | Last updated Feb 28, 2010 - 09:40 AM

Shown are lance-shaped leaves and bright orange-yellow flowers in pendulous panicles.  Curtis's Botanical Magazine t.2824, 1828.

Buddleja madagascariensis Lam. | BM t.2824/1828| BHL

Family Buddlejaceae
Category
Region of origin

Madagascar

Synonyms
  • Buddleja heterophylla Lindl.
  • Nicodemia madagascariensis R.N.Parker
Common Name
Name in the Camden Park Record

Buddlea heterophylla 

Confidence level high