Plant Overview
Buddleja loricata forms a evergreen bushy shrub which is fully hardy in the UK and resistant to drought and heat. Honey scented, creamy-white or sulphur-coloured, orange-centred flowers appear in midsummer and attract many flying insects including bees and butterflies, whilst the wrinkly, narrow leaves are covered in attractive rusty brown hairs.
Unlike most Buddleja, pruning is not required.
Very good for a smaller garden where most Buddlejas would be too big. Flowers in early summer.
Named and described in 1975 by Dutch botanist, Anthonius Josephus Maria Leeuwenberg, B. loricata has only recently been introduced into cultivation.
Naturally occurring throughout South Africa and Mozambique, the plant grows amongst rocks or in moist sheltered places on high mountain slopes above 1800m.
Height: 2m
Common name(s): Buddleia, African Butterfly bush; Mountain Sage
Picture: Ptelea [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons
