The lovely purple flower heads of today's spotlight species - Butterfly-bush (aka Buddleia), Buddleja davidii - are a familiar sight at this time of year almost everywhere in England, and in lowland parts of Wales and Scotland, often in very urban or industrial places, such as the tops of abandoned factories, and particularly railways lines, which it seems to love. Because it is so widespread you might be forgiven for thinking that it has always been here. In fact it is native to China and the first European to see it was the French missionary and explorer Father Armand David (whose name is memorialised in the scientific name of the species - davidii (he also has a deer named after him - Père David's Deer, which is also native to China).
If I'd chosen a sunnier day to talk about Buddleia (as I always call it - even though the 'official' English name now appears to be Butterfly-bush) I might have been able to get some pictures of pretty butterflies such as Small Tortoiseshells, Peacocks or Red Admirals feeding on the nectar produced by the flowers. However, it has to be said that we have only ever seen Large Whites (Cabbage Whites) on this one in our back garden. It's not only butterflies that like Butterfly-bush flowers though - I've seen some great photos on Facebook in the last few days of pretty stunning-looking moths 'nectaring' on Buddleia at night, so if you have one in your garden, it might be worth going out after dark with a torch and seeing what you find visiting the flowers.
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