Buddleja parviflora is large dioecious shrub or small tree endemic to much of upland Mexico north of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, in forests at elevations of 750 – 3500 m.
It was subsequently separated by Philip Miller in 1768 into the genus Frangula on the basis of its hermaphrodite flowers with a five-parted corolla (dioecious, and four-parted in Rhamnus); this restored the treatment of pre-Linnaean authors, notably Tournefort.