Buckleya distichophylla, commonly called piratebush, is a flowering plant in the family Santalaceae, native to the Southern United States.

[3] It is a rare plant,[4] found only in sporadic mountainous areas of North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.

[4] At present, piratebush has only been identified in mountainous areas of North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.

[6] Although many other locations in the Appalachians feature habitats that seemingly would support piratebush, scientists have yet to determine why the plant exists in so few places.

[4] The plant was initially discovered and described as a member of the genus Borya in the olive family by Thomas Nuttall in 1818 along the French Broad River in the vicinity of Paint Rock in Western North Carolina.