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Buddleia asiatica

Common name:	Bai Bei Feng	Family:	Buddleiaceae
Author:	Lour.	Botanical references:	11, 200, 266
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	E. Asia - India to the Philippines.
Habitat:	Second growth forest, sandy river banks, grass, savannah, landslips and deserted village sites[146, 260].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	1	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	1

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	Buddleja asiatica[B,DUTCH,E,G,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Daukfou [E], Dogtail [B,P], Kai Bok [E], Lour [E], Mengayen [E],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	asiatica = Asian
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	China India Indonesia Kaju saludang Nepal Philippines

Physical Characteristics

An evergreen shrub growing to 3m by 3m . It is hardy to zone 8. It is in leaf all year, in flower from January to April. The scented flowers are dioecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but only one sex is to be found on any one plant so both male and female plants must be grown if seed is required) and are pollinated by Bees and Lepidoptera (Moths & Butterflies). The plant not is self-fertile. We rate it 1/5 for edibility and 1/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils, requires well-drained soil and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils and can grow in very alkaline soil. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires dry or moist soil and can tolerate drought. It can tolerate atmospheric pollution.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Sunny Edge, Dappled Shade.

Edible Uses

Drink.

The dried and powdered root is used in the preparation of a fermented liquor[183].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Abortifacient Skin.

The plant has been used as an abortifacient and also in the treatment of skin complaints[240, 243]. The juice f the plant is applied as a wash to treat skin diseases[272].

Other Uses

Wood.

Wood - tough, moderately hard. It could be used for making walking sticks[158].

Cultivation details

Requires a sunny position, succeeding in most reasonably good soils so long as they are well-drained[1, 11, 182, 200]. Prefers a rich loamy soil[11]. Plants are very tolerant of alkaline soils[200].
Of doubtful hardiness in most of Britain, it is likely to be damaged or killed by temperatures lower than 0° c[260]. However, one report says that it succeeds outdoors in southern &ndndndnd[1] whilst other reports say that it might be hardy on a south or south-west facing wall in the mildest areas of this country[11, 166, 182, 188]. So long as the plant is well mulched it resprouts freely from the base if cut back by severe weather[200].
A very ornamental plant[1], the cut flowers last well in water[200].
Hybridizes freely with other members of this genus[200].
Any pruning is best done after flowering[200].
An excellent plant for bees and butterflies.
Dioecious. Male and female plants must be grown if seed is required.

Propagation

Seed - cold stratify for 4 weeks at 4° c[138] and surface sow the seed in February/March in a greenhouse[78, 113] (the pre-chilling might not be required for this species). Germination usually takes place within 3 - 4 weeks at 21° c[138]. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter, planting them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Seedlings are inclined to damp off and so should be watered with care and kept well-ventilated[78].
Cuttings of half-ripe wood, July/August in a frame[11, 113]. Use short side-shoots[78]. Very high percentage[113].
Cuttings of mature wood of the current season's growth, 15 - 20cm long, October/November in a frame[200].

Scent

Flowers: Fresh: The flowers, which are produced in the winter, have a wonderful strong aroma rather like freesias[260].

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for Buddleja asiatica (a possible synonym).

[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[11] Bean. W. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. Murray 1981
A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.

[78] Sheat. W. G. Propagation of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers. MacMillan and Co 1948
A bit dated but a good book on propagation techniques with specific details for a wide range of plants.

[113] Dirr. M. A. and Heuser. M. W. The Reference Manual of Woody Plant Propagation. Athens Ga. Varsity Press 1987 ISBN 0942375009
A very detailed book on propagating trees. Not for the casual reader.

[138] Bird. R. (Editor) Growing from Seed. Volume 3. Thompson and Morgan. 1989
Very readable magazine with lots of information on propagation.

[146] Gamble. J. S. A Manual of Indian Timbers. Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh 1972
Written last century, but still a classic, giving a lot of information on the uses and habitats of Indian trees. Not for the casual reader.

[158] Gupta. B. L. Forest Flora of Chakrata, Dehra Dun and Saharanpur. Forest Research Institute Press 1945
A good flora for the middle Himalayan forests, sparsly illustrated. Not really for the casual reader.

[166] Taylor. J. The Milder Garden. Dent 1990
A good book on plants that you didn't know could be grown outdoors in Britain.

[182] Thomas. G. S. Ornamental Shrubs, Climbers and Bamboos. Murray 1992 ISBN 0-7195-5043-2
Contains a wide range of plants with a brief description, mainly of their ornamental value but also usually of cultivation details and varieties.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[188] Brickell. C. The RHS Gardener's Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd. 1990 ISBN 0-86318-386-7
Excellent range of photographs, some cultivation details but very little information on plant uses.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[240] Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. 1986
Very terse details of medicinal uses of plants with a wide range of references and details of research into the plants chemistry. Not for the casual reader.

[243] Medicinal Plants of Nepal Dept. of Medicinal Plants. Nepal. 1993
Terse details of the medicinal properties of Nepalese plants, including cultivated species and a few imported herbs.

[245] Genders. R. Scented Flora of the World. Robert Hale. London. 1994 ISBN 0-7090-5440-8
An excellent, comprehensive book on scented plants giving a few other plant uses and brief cultivation details. There are no illustrations.

[260] Phillips. R. & Rix. M. Conservatory and Indoor Plants Volumes 1 & 2 Pan Books, London. 1998 ISBN 0-330-37376-5
Excellent photos of over 1,100 species and cultivars with habits and cultivation details plus a few plant uses. Many species are too tender for outdoors in Britain though there are many that can be grown outside.

[266] Flora of China 1994
On-line version of the Flora - an excellent resource giving basic info on habitat and some uses.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
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