Buddleja subcapitata is a small shrub discovered in 2003 by Liu and Peng in Sichuan, China, growing alongside a road bordering forest in Yanbian County at an elevation of 2,200 m.[1] First described in 2004, this putative species was not included in Leeuwenberg's study of Asiatic and African buddleja published in 1979.[2]
Buddleja subcapitata grows to 1.5 m in height in the wild. The branchlets are quadrangular and densely tomentose, the bark of old branches peeling and often glabrescent. The leaves are lanceolate or obovate-lanceolate, 3.5 - 11.0 cm long by 1.1 - 3.1 cm wide, rugose and tomentose above, densely tomentose below. The small terminal inflorescences are erect, compact, capitulum-like panicles comprising many cymes, 1.7 - 2.5 cm long by 1.9 - 2.5 cm wide, with usually two leafy bracts at the base. The lilac flowers are densely packed, the corollas 9 - 10 mm long and densely tomentose outside.[1]
Buddleja subcapitata most closely resembles B. yunnanensis but differs in both flower and leaf morphology.
Buddleja subcapitata is not known to be in cultivation.