Cephalanthus occidentalis L.

Common Buttonbush; Honey Balls; Globe Flower

Shrub

Perennial

Vascular

Common Buttonbush is a native deciduous shrub in the Madder family (Rubiaceae). It can be found throughout Alabama. Common Buttonbush grows around ponds and lakes, along streams and rivers, in swamps and sloughs, and in wet roadside ditches. It is a shrub reaching heights of 6-9 feet. Older stems and the trunk have furrowed, grey-brown bark. Young twigs are green or reddish in color and glabrous or short pubescent. Leaves are petiolate, whorled or opposite, oblong or elliptic in outline, and entire. The leaves are glossy green above and pubescent (at least along the veins) below. Flowers are produced in dense globose heads. The heads are solitary or in cymes. The corolla is funnelform with 4 spreading lobes, and the calyx is green with 4 lobes. The corolla is white, turning brown with age. The style is much exserted, and the flowers are fragrant with a sweet odor. The fruit is a dry obpyramidal nutlet. Common Buttonbush is the larval food for the Hydrangea sphinx (Darapsa versicolor), and many species of insects visit the flowers. The fruit of Common Buttonbush are an important winter food for many species of ducks. Common Buttonbush is sometimes available from nurseries. It prefers a moist to wet soil in full sun. Plants can tolerate flooding for extensive periods of time. Plants can also be grown from cuttings. Older plants should be heavily pruned to promote new growth and flowering.--A. Diamond

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Native OBL (NWPL)

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