Buddleja megalocephala
Buddleja megalocephala is a tree native to Guatemala, found in the Central Highlands near the Sierra de los Cuchumatanes and Mt. Tacana on the border with Mexico. It grows in open areas at high elevations from about 2,700 to 4,000 meters, in environments associated with evergreen cloud forest. The species was first described by Smith in 1897.
This tree is dioecious, meaning male and female flowers grow on separate trees. It reaches 5–15 meters tall with a trunk up to 65 cm in diameter and has brown, fissured bark. The young branches are thick, four‑sided, and densely hairy. Leaves are lanceolate to elliptic, 7–20 cm long and 2–6 cm wide, on 1–2 cm petioles; they are leathery, with little hair on the upper surface and hairy beneath.
The inflorescence measures 6–20 cm by 8–10 cm and consists of globose heads in racemes, sometimes with two levels of branching. Each head is 1.2–2 cm in diameter and contains about 40–50 orange flowers; the corollas are 4–5 mm long. The plant has a chromosome number of 2n = 76.
The tree is sold in the United Kingdom, with suppliers listed in the RHS Plantfinder.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 05:37 (CET).