Deciduous shrub to 3 m or so tall with stems square in section. Leaves opposite, to about 15 cm long, 6 cm wide, ovate to narrow-ovate, pointed, white-felted below, margins finely toothed; stipules leafy and on major branches only. Flowers in dense clusters, white, blue to purplish, generally with an orange eye, fragrant; summer to autumn.
China, Japan
There has been some naturalisation of this species in NSW, Vic and SA.
After early introductions of the species and its varieties to the West many clones have been raised in Europe and the USA since 1950. A selection of those available in Australia is given under the Cultivars tab.
var. magnifica Rehder & Wils. Has violet-purple flowers with the lobes bent back.
var. nanhoensis Rehder. Small shrub with smaller leaves. Flowers mauve in late summer.
var. veitchiana (Veitch) Rehder. Early flowering, the large clusters of flowers purple with an orange eye. ['Veitchiana']
Source: (2002). Loganiaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 4. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 3. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.
Buddleja davidii 'Black Knight'
Flowers dark purple.
Raised by Ruys in 1959.
Buddleja davidii 'Empire Blue'
Flowers bluish mauve with an orange eye.
Leaves variegated with white. Flowers reddish purple.
Spreading open shrub. Flowers deep purple with an orange eye.
Buddleja davidii 'Royal Purple'
Flowers purple.
Flowers reddish purple.
Raised by Good and Reese and introduced 1941.
Leaves variegated.
Possibly a form of B. davidii 'Royal Red' with variegated leaves.
Buddleja davidii 'White Bouquet'
Low-growing with white flowers.
Raised Tarnok, 1942.
Buddleja davidii 'White Profusion'
Flowers white in dense clusters.