Buddleja lindleyana ("Tofujiutsugi")

Japanese name: トウフジウツギ （唐藤空木）
Scientific name: Buddleja lindleyana

[Overview]
A deciduous shrub 1–1.5 m tall.
The stem has 4 ridges and is angular in cross section.
Young branches are densely covered with stellate hairs.
Leaves are simple and opposite, but often alternate on the upper part of the stem, 5–10 cm long and 1.5–3.5 cm wide, oblong, with a pointed tip.
The underside of the leaf is at first rather densely covered with stellate hairs and is whitish, but later becomes almost hairless.
The leaf margin is usually entire, but sometimes toothed.
The nodes at the leaf base have no stipule-like projections.
Panicles at the branch tips bear many flowers, all turned to one side.
The flowers are 1.5–1.8 cm long, tubular with 4 lobes at the tip, and reddish purple.
The fruit is an elliptic capsule 4 mm long.

[Cultivation]
Propagate by cuttings.
It prefers sunny, well-drained, fertile soil.
The roots are coarse, so it dislikes being transplanted.
For potted plants and plants in the ground less than 2 years, water thoroughly when the soil dries; for established plants in the ground, rainfall is sufficient unless summer brings a long spell of sunny weather and the soil becomes severely dry.
Fertilizer is not particularly necessary.
The branches grow well and the shape easily becomes untidy, and if the branches are too crowded, flowering is poor and aphids appear, so in March prune the branches that grew the previous year, dead branches, and crowded parts.
Flower buds form on branches that grow in spring, so finish pruning before the branches begin to extend.
Pests and diseases include aphids and teppo-mushi (larvae of longhorn beetles).

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