Buddleja brachystachya is a small shrub endemic to the Yunnan

Yunnan

Yunnan is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the far southwest of the country spanning approximately and with a population of 45.7 million . The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders Burma, Laos, and Vietnam.Yunnan is situated in a mountainous area, with...

, Szechuan and Kansu provinces of China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

, where it grows on open, rocky, often dry, places at altitudes of between 2,000 and 2,400 m. It was first described and named by Diels in 1912.

Description

B. brachystachya grows to between 0.3 and 0.9 m in height, with subquadrangular to subterete, densely stellate

Stellate

Stellate, meaning star-shaped, may refer to:* Stellate cell* Stellate ganglion* Stellate reticulum* Stellate veins* Stellate trichomes on plants* Stellate laceration or incisionWound#Open...

 - tomentose

Tomentose

Tomentose is a term used to describe plant hairs that are flattened and matted, forming a woolly coating known as tomentum. Often the hairs are silver or gray-colored...

 branchlets. The small, opposite leaves have elliptic

Leaf shape

In botany, leaf shape is characterised with the following terms :* Acicular : Slender and pointed, needle-like* Acuminate : Tapering to a long point...

 blades, 1 - 3.5 cm long by 0.5 - 1.7 cm wide, acute or obtuse at the apex, cuneate

Cuneate

Cuneate means "wedge-shaped," it can apply to:*cuneate leaf, a leaf shape*the cuneate nucleus, a part of the brainstem*the cuneate fasciculus, a tract from the spinal cord into the brainstem...

 or decurrent

Decurrent

Decurrent is a term used in botany and mycology to describe plant or fungal parts that extend downward.In botany, the term is most often applied to leaf blades that partly wrap or have wings around the stem or petiole and extend down along the stem...

 at the base, the margins entire

Leaf shape

In botany, leaf shape is characterised with the following terms :* Acicular : Slender and pointed, needle-like* Acuminate : Tapering to a long point...

. The lavender inflorescence

Inflorescence

An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...

s are small, thyrsoid, and often few flowered, 1.5 - 3 cm long by 1.5 - 2.5 cm wide, the corollas 11 - 18 mm long.