18th May

Here is an interesting article from a Buddleia fan...

 

Buddleia, also known as “Buddleja” and “Butterfly Bush” in English and “Mi Menghua” in Chinese is a shrub-like plant that is very popular for its ability to attract butterflies. In fact, it almost seems like nature designed this plant especially for butterflies. Not only is Butterfly Bush full of delicious nectar that butterflies love to feed on for a long duration, it also has a wonderful honey-like fragrance that attracts butterflies in large numbers.

So if you want to have a butterfly garden in your home, the smartest thing to do is to plant several Buddleias that come as more than 100 types of species. The one most easily available commercially is called the “Buddleja Davidii” It’s not just the butterflies though; Buddleias attract hummingbirds and bees too. So if one wants a Hummingbird garden, Buddleias are again a must-have!

 

In the eastern part of the world, Chinese medicine and Korean medicine practitioners value this plant for its medicinal and herbal properties. In Chinese, the Buddleia flower bud is called “Mi Meng Hua” and is considered to drain fire from the body thereby benefiting the eyes. So, in case one is suffering from vision related issues such as red or swollen eyes, pain in the eyes, excessive tearing or sensitivity to light, a Chinese medicine practitioner would recommend Buddleia flower buds and flowers. The usual way most practitioners recommend its consumption is to take three to nine grams after boiling it in water for some time.

 

But that’s not all! Besides being a one-stop solution for people interested in making a butterfly garden or a hummingbird garden or attracting bees to their garden and helping with vision-related health issues (according to Chinese medicine), Butterfly bushes are also utilized in traditional Korean medicine which uses its flower buds to treat people with inflammatory conditions and headache. Those are a lot of benefits from one shrub-like plant.

The “Buddleia Officinalis” is one of the species of the Buddleia family and its flower buds and flowers are believed to help with cramps and spasms caused due to issues with the intestines, bladder or stomach by traditional Korean medicine practitioners. It is also prescribed in case someone is suffering from a health condition called the “irritable bowel syndrome”. Like in Chinese medicine, its flowers and flower buds are believed to aid in diseases of the eyes in traditional Korean medicine. Besides the flower buds, the leaves of the Buddleia Officinalis are believed to aid in the treatment of all the following health conditions: Gonorrhea, Hepatitis and Hernia. It is believed to work like Vitamin P that helps in reducing the fragility of skin and small intestine’s blood vessel.

 

As seen above, Butterfly Bush or Buddleja is no ordinary plant. Traditional practices of Chinese medicine and Korean medicine swear by its potential benefits in treating several human body ailments of the eyes, the skin and the stomach. Full of wonderful benefits for butterflies, bees and hummingbirds as well as human beings, it is a plant that deserves more investigation of its potential.