Buddleja cordata

{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}} {{Speciesbox |image = Buddleja cordata flowers.jpg |image_caption = ''Buddleja cordata'' flowers |genus = Buddleja |species = cordata |authority = Kunth |synonyms = * ''Buddleja acuminata'' Kunth * ''Buddleja astralis'' Standl. & Steyerm. * ''Buddleja cordata'' Kunth var. ''teposan'' Loes. * ''Buddleja decurrens'' Schltdl. & Cham. * ''Buddleja floccosa'' Kunth * ''Buddleja floccosa'' Kunth var. ''crassifolia'' Loes. * ''Buddleja humboldtiana'' Willd. ex Schultes & Schultes * ''Buddleja macrophylla'' Kunth * ''Buddleja ovalifolia'' Kunth * ''Buddleja propinqua'' Kunth * ''Buddleja spectabilis'' Kunth & Bouché }}

'''''Buddleja cordata''''' is endemic to Mexico, growing along forest edges and water courses at elevations of 1500–3000 m; it has also naturalized in parts of Ethiopia.<ref name=Norman>Norman, E. M. (2000). Buddlejaceae. ''Flora Neotropica 81'', New York Botanical Garden, USA</ref><ref name=Leeuwenberg>Leeuwenberg, A. J. M. (1979) ''The Loganiaceae of Africa XVIII Buddleja L. II, Revision of the African & Asiatic species''. H. Veenman & Zonen, Wageningen, Nederland.</ref> The species was first described and named by Kunth in 1818.<ref name = Nova>''Nova Genera et Species Plantarum'', 2: 348–349, t.185. 1818.</ref>

==Description== ''Buddleja cordata'' is a large deciduous dioecious shrub or tree < 20 m tall in the wild. The trunk, which can reach 45 cm in diameter, has a furrowed bark, brownish or blackish in colour. The ovate to narrowly elliptical leaves are opposite and paired, 4–23  cm long by 3–14 cm wide, on petioles 1–4 cm long. The terminal inflorescences are paniculate, 6–30 cm long with at least two orders of branches, the lowermost subtended by leaves, the uppermost by small bracts. The small fragrant flowers are grouped into shortly pedunculate cymules, the corollas white, cream, or yellow, with a flush of orange at the throat, 1.5–2.5 long. Ploidy: ''2n'' = 76 (tetraploid).<ref name=Norman/>

<gallery> Image: Buddleja cordata, Longstock.jpg|10-year-old ''B. Cordata'' Image: Hojas de tepozán (Buddleja cordata).jpg |''B. cordata'' leaves Image: Buddleja cordata.jpg|''B. cordata'' panicle </gallery>

==Cultivation== The species is cold hardy in the UK. A large specimen grows in the Centenary Border of the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens in Hampshire, another as part of the NCCPG national collection at Longstock Park Nursery, also in Hampshire.<ref name=Moore>Moore, P. (2012). ''Buddleja List 2011-2012 Longstock Park Nursery''. Longstock Park, UK.</ref> Hardiness: USDA zone 8. <ref name=Stuart>Stuart, D. (2006). ''Buddlejas''. Plant Collector Guide. Timber Press, Oregon, USA. {{ISBN|978-0-88192-688-0}}</ref>

==Uses== The species (and the genus as a whole) contain secondary metabolites such as flavonoids and iridoid glycosides which have shown much promise in the treatment of cancers and a wide range of other disorders.<ref name=Norman/>

==References== {{Commons category|Buddleja cordata}} {{Reflist}}

cordata Category:Flora of Mexico Category:Flora of Central America Category:Medicinal plants of North America Category:Dioecious plants