buddleia

noun

bud·​dle·​ia ˈbəd-lē-ə How to pronounce buddleia (audio)
ˌbəd-ˈlē-
: any of a genus (Buddleja of the family Scrophulariaceae) of shrubs or small trees of warm regions with showy terminal clusters of usually purple or white flowers

called also butterfly bush

Examples of buddleia in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Some flowers in my garden have been inherited from the previous owners: astilbes, baptisias, azaleas, and buddleias. Yiyun Li, The New Yorker, 23 Oct. 2023 The bush is a compact buddleia that cascades instead of growing upright, so it could be grown in a basket or a large pot, then put in the ground in fall. Joanne Kempinger Demski, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 24 Mar. 2022 Pentas, lantana, verbena, zinnia, salvias (many different species and cultivars), Mexican butterfly weed (Asclepias curassavica) and buddleia are excellent flowering plants to attract butterflies into your garden this summer. Dan Gill, NOLA.com, 5 May 2019 These include asters, ornamental salvias, caryopteris, perovskia, lespedeza, buddleia and chrysanthemums. Adrian Higgins, sacbee, 8 June 2018 This hybrid is a very dwarf form of buddleia (or buddleja), great for small spaces and containers. Debbie Arrington, sacbee, 15 Dec. 2017 Pentas, lantana, verbena, zinnia, salvias, Mexican butterfly weed and buddleia are excellent flowering plants to attract butterflies to your garden this summer. Dan Gill, NOLA.com, 15 July 2017

Word History

Etymology

New Latin, genus name, from Adam Buddle †1715 English botanist

First Known Use

1763, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of buddleia was in 1763

Dictionary Entries Near buddleia

Cite this Entry

“Buddleia.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/buddleia. Accessed 17 Dec. 2024.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!