Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Lamiids: Gentianales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Cephalanthus occidentalis
FAMILY
Rubiaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Buttonbush at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Cephalanthus occidentalis
FAMILY
Rubiaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 173-02-001:
Cephalanthus occidentalis FAMILY Rubiaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Cephalanthus occidentalis
COMMON NAME:
Buttonbush
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
Manual of the Trees of North America (Exclusive of Mexico) (Sargent, 1905) mtna_i_911
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_ceoc2_001_lvd
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / US Forest Service pnd_ceoc2_005_lvd
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide pnd_ceoc2_009_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm070328_012
March Greenville County SC
Fruit a globular head of seed superficially similar to small sycamore fruit, per Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004).
)
JK Marlow jkm160416_236
April Lowndes County GA
Rubiaceae is distinctive in that the stipules of opposite leaves are connate, per Plant Systematics (Simpson, 2010).
)
JK Marlow jkm150529_118
May Spartanburg County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm0506k_04b
June Union County SC
Sumter National Forest: Tyger Ranger District
Leaves ovate to elliptic, tips cuspidate or acute, margins entire, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm0506k_04c
June Union County SC
Sumter National Forest: Tyger Ranger District
)
JK Marlow jkm0506k_20
June Union County SC
Sumter National Forest: Tyger Ranger District
A large coarse wetland shrub, per Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006).
)
JK Marlow jkm0506k_25
June Union County SC
Sumter National Forest: Tyger Ranger District
)
JK Marlow jkm130628_319
June Cherokee County NC
Murphy River Walk
Numerous sessile flowers radiating in dense spherical heads, per Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm130628_319b
June Cherokee County NC
Murphy River Walk
Small tubular flowers with protruding styles in dense pincushion-like heads, per Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011).
)
JK Marlow jkm190604_8895
June Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
Leaves opposite or whorled 3-4 to the node & up to about 7" long x 4" wide, per Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006).
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_c_occidentalis_5
July
)
Gill Newberry gn08_c_occidentallis_bran
August
)
JK Marlow jkm210818_2852
August Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
)
Stephanie C. Brundage scb_080221hayesville07
August Clay County NC
Clay County Native Botanical Garden
)
JK Marlow jkm0509g_04
September Cabarrus County NC
Suther Prairie
)
JK Marlow jkm0509g_13
September Cabarrus County NC
Suther Prairie
Fruit a dense head of nutlets, reddish-brown, persisting through the winter, per Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011).
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_c_occidentalis_button
Month Unknown DeKalb County AL
Little River Canyon
Admired in Europe, but largely unappreciated in the southeast US, per Native Shrubs and Woody Vines of the Southeast (Foote & Jones, 1989).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Cephalanthus occidentalis
FAMILY
Rubiaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Cephalanthus occidentalis
FAMILY
Rubiaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 173-02-001:
Cephalanthus occidentalis
FAMILY
Rubiaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Cephalanthus occidentalis
301
Semi-aquatic shrub
Perennial
Habitat: Streambanks, riverbanks, depressional wetlands, lakes, marshes, often in standing water, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common
Click here to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
Click here to see a map showing all occurrences known to SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria. (Zoom in to see more detail.)
LEAVES:
Deciduous
Simple
Opposite or whorled
Margins entire
FLOWER:
Summer
White
Bisexual
Radially symmetrical
4-lobed calyx, crowded & indistinct
4-lobed tubular corolla
4 stamens
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Reddish/Greenish/Brown
Nutlet
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006) p157
- Field Guide to Aquatic Plants of Alabama (Lovell, 2007) p09
- Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005) p322
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p240
- Landscaping with Native Trees (Sternberg & Wilson, 1995) p254
- Native Alternatives to Invasive Plants p062
- Native Shrubs and Woody Vines of the Southeast (Foote & Jones, 1989) p123
- Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007) p298
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p164
- Trees of the Southeastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1988) p100
- Wildflowers of the Carolina Lowcountry (Porcher, 1995) p108
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p235
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p260
- Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance) p17
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011) p278
- Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004) p098
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p279