Spotlight on buddleja

Buddleja leaves are one of the most soft powerful ingredients in nature, no wonder I made them into one of the twelve ingredients I use accross the range.

The origin:

Buddleja davidii is a shrub or small-tree that comes originally from China and was introduced as an ornamental plant in other parts of the world in the late 1800’s. The genus Buddleja was named by Linné (1737) to honor the English amateur botanist Reverend Adam Buddle. The species was named after French Jesuit missionary, Pére Armand David who collected and brought to Paris specimens from China.

The growth:

One of the most amazing abilities of the buddleja is to adapt to almost all sort of environments and it grows and spreads very quickly.  When it comes to sustainability , buddleja tops most lists but it has to be grown in controlled fields as the wind-dispersed seeds and the high rate of germination can colonise  native vegetation and reduce biodiversity. One of the first things that caught my eye when I went to the UK is the number of shrubs along rail tracks. Recent studies revealed that seeds are either carried on the trains or blown and drawn along in the slipstream of trains. Buddleja can grow on soils poor in nutrients and high in sands. You can also spot them on the borders of poluted roads and even on some wall’s houses.

The Green chemistry:

Buddleja was first used in Chinese traditional medicine as wound healing (by applying dressings or compresses soaked with the leaves). Since then, further analysis of the composition unveiled a variety of properties.

Efficacy:

Significant in-vitro studies revealed that buddleja protects the skin cells from UV damages.