Native Plants

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Thursday - August 19, 2010

From: Fort Davis, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Butterfly Gardens
Title: Woolly butterfly bush only one native to Texas from Ft. Davis TX
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

I see many kinds of Butterfly Bush at nurseries. Is the woolly butterfly bush the only Texas native?

ANSWER:

As you probably know, butterfly bush is a common name for members of the Buddleja genus. The natives to Texas of that genus are:

Buddleja marrubiifolia (woolly butterflybush)

Buddleja racemosa (wand butterflybush)

Buddleja scordioides (escobilla butterflybush)

Buddleja sessiliflora (Rio Grande butterflybush) - pictures from Google

The butterfly bushes you are seeing at nurseries are probably selections or cultivars of Buddleia davidii which is native to western China and therefore out of the range of our expertise. From Spring Meadow Nurseries All about butterfly bush here is more information.

From our Native Plant Image Gallery:

Buddleja marrubiifolia

Buddleja racemosa