Buddleja incana Ruiz & Pav.

  • Authority

    Norman, E. M. 2000. Buddlejaceae. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 81: 1-225. (Published by NYBG Press)

  • Family

    Buddlejaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Buddleja incana Ruiz & Pav.

  • Type

    Type. Peru. Borders of rivers in Canta, Huarochiri, Tarma & Huánuco, Ruíz & Pavón s.n. (lectotype, here designated, BM; isolectotype, P).

  • Synonyms

    Buddleja rugosa Kunth, Buddleja incana var. pannulosa Diels

  • Description

    Species Description - Dioecious tree or shrub 4-12(-15) m tall, with brownish furrowed bark, up to 50 cm at base, with rounded crown, branches subquadrangular, covered with tomentum. Leaves with petiole 1-2 cm long, with stipular lines, blades oblong, lanceolate-oblong, or elliptic-oblong, 7-15(-21) x 1-3(-5) cm, subcoriaceous to coriaceous, above glabrescent, often rugose or bullate above, below white or yellowish tomentose; apex acuminate, base acute to acuminate, margin subentire, crenulate or serrulate. Inflorescence 8-12 (-20) x 8-12(-20) cm, paniculate with 2-3 orders of branches, basal branches subtended by leaves, others by linear bracts, bracts often conspicuous below each head; heads 1-1.5 cm diam. with 15-40 flowers. Calyx campanulate, tomentose outside, tube 1.5-2.5 mm long, lobes 1-1.7 mm, acuminate. Corolla yellow turning orange, tubular to campanulate, tomentulose outside, inside with few warty hairs in upper half of tube, tube 3-4 mm long, lobes ovoid to suborbicular, 1.5-2 x 1.5-2 mm. Stamens subsessile, inserted 0.5-1 mm below sinus, anthers 0.5-1 mm long. Ovary 1.5-3 mm long, tomentose, style 1.5-2 mm, stigma globose, bilobed, 0.5-1 mm long. Capsule cylindrical, 5-6 x 2.5-3.5 mm, tomentose, dehiscing primarily septicidally, valves acute. Seeds type 3, oblong, 1.5-2 x 0.4-0.45 mm, with wings, seed body mass 0.9-1.2 mm long. 2n = 76.

  • Discussion

    It is interesting to note that Gynoxys, a shrubby Asteraceae, which has leaves that mimic Buddleja, is referred to as ckoto-quishuar or kipa-quishuar, which means false or pseudo-quishuar (Herrera, 1944).

    Buddleja incana has served as an all-purpose plant for the people of the Andes. They use it for medicinal purposes, in cooking, as a dye, as a windbreak, in construction, and as firewood as well as in ceremonies. It has been used against warts, hypertrophy of the papillae of the skin and callous ulcers (Hartwell, 1970), and infected wounds (Perez de Barradas, 1957). The Incas used the wood for incinerating their idols in the fiesta of “R’aimi” (Macbride, 1959). Towle (1961), referring to Weberbauer (1945), mentions B. longifolia as the source of wood for burning the idols at the festival of R’aimi. Apparently this author confused B. longifolia with B. incana. The former species is a rare endemic of southern Ecuador and northern Peru.

    Since Buddleja incana has been cut by humans since pre-historic time, it is encouraging that in recent years it has been used in a program of reforestation in the high Andes of Ecuador. Preliminary studies by Brandbyge and Holm-Nielsen (1986) and Brandbyge (1992) indicate that this species could be grown easily from seeds, and reached an average height of 1.56 m after 22 months. Some plants bloomed after 18 months.

    The shape and size of leaves and the amount and color of the indument are variable characteristics in this species. Buddleja incana is closely related to B. coriácea, B. bullata, and B. montana. Buddleja vexans is most likely a hybrid between B. incana and B. coriácea. The male flowers have corollas with a wider throat and larger stamens than the female flowers.

    A parasitic ascomycete can often be seen on the leaves of B. incana from central Peru. This fungus is characterized by black fruiting bodies, ca 0.3-0.5 mm diam., which often appear in concentric rings on the upper epidermis. It has been identified as Dermatodothis buddlejae (Stevens) von Arx & E. Müller (= Phaeophragmocauna buddleyae Stevens) [J. Boise, FH (pers. comm.)].

    Distribution and Ecology: This species is distributed from the Cordillera Central of Colombia to northwestern Bolivia at 2700-4500 m, with highest elevations in the Cordillera Blanca of Peru, growing in canyon bottoms, along stream-banks, in Gynoxys-Polylepis forests and in ceja andina or subpáramo and jilea vegetation with Festuca grassland. It is also common along mud walls that surround fields in central Peru. It is not clear whether it is native to Bolivia or whether the collections from that country represent cultivated plants. The latter is more likely since both collections were made as recently as 1947 and from an area that has been relatively well botanized in earlier times. Flowering and fruiting throughout the year.

  • Common Names

    Chanchunga, kiswar, Kishuara, quishuar, quisuar, quishuaca and colle

  • Distribution

    Colombia South America| Antioquia Colombia South America| Boyacá Colombia South America| Cundinamarca Colombia South America| Ecuador South America| Azuay Ecuador South America| Cañar Ecuador South America| Chimborazo Ecuador South America| Cotopaxi Ecuador South America| Loja Ecuador South America| Pichincha Ecuador South America| Peru South America| Amazonas Peru South America| Ancash Peru South America| Cajamarca Peru South America| Cusco Peru South America| Huánuco Peru South America| Junín Peru South America| La Libertad Peru South America| Lima Peru South America| Pasco Peru South America| Bolivia South America| La Paz Bolivia South America|