Buddleja alata Rehder & E.H.Wilson is endemic to western Szechuan, China, growing at elevations of 1,300–3,000 m; it was first described and named by Rehder and Wilson in 1913. Leeuwenberg found the plant to be such a perfect intermediate of Buddleja albiflora and Buddleja nivea as to consider it a hybrid of the two species.