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Cephalanthus occidentalis

(Button Willow)

Overview

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Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Common Names in English:

Button Willow, Bush Globeflower, Button-Willow, Buttonbush, Common Buttonbush, Honey Bells, Honey-Bells, Honeyball

Description

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Family Rubiaceae

The Rubiaceae are trees , shrubs , or infrequently herbs comprising about 450 genera and 6,500 species, including some lianous forms. The leaves are simple and usually entire, and are opposite or sometimes whorled ; stipules are present and interpetiolar . The flowers are nearly always bisexual and actinomorphic , often heterostylous, and usually are in cymose inflorescences. The calyx is mostly somewhat reduced and 4-5-lobed or sometimes the lobes are obsolete or rarely one of them greatly expanded and brightly colored . The sympetalous corolla is mostly 4-5-lobed, occasionally with 3 or up to 10 lobes. The androecium consists of as many stamens as corolla lobes and is adnate to the corolla tube or epigynous zone, alternate with the lobes. The gynoecium consists of a single compound pistil of 2 or seldom more carpels, a single style, and a nearly always inferior ovary with the number of locules equaling the number of carpels, each with 1-many axile ovules. An epigynous nectary disk is usually present. The fruit is variable, sometimes forming multiples . -- Gerald Carr.

Physical Description

ID Features: Prominent lenticels on stems. Stems coarse. Simple, glossy leaves. Creamy white flowers throughout the summer. Terminal buds absent. Lateral buds are sessile and found in depressions above each leaf scar. Leaf scars are more or less circular. Pith is solid and light brown.

Habit: Deciduous rounded , spreading , multi-stemmed shrub . Loose and somewhat open.

Flowers: In globular heads about 1" across. Creamy white, somewhat fragrant. Bloom time is June, July, August. Moderately ornamental , but not exceptional. • Bloom Period: June. • Flower Color: near white, white

Seeds: Fruit: Small nutlets are held in 1" diameter globular balls . Before drying, color is green with red hilights. The fruits persist into the winter.

Foliage: Summer foliage: Deciduous simple leaves. Very late to leaf out in the spring . Opposite or whorled leaf arrangement. Ovate leaves with acute bases and tips . 2" to 6" long and 1" to 3" wide. Medium to dark green color. Glossy. • Fall foliage: Usually greenish-yellow to yellow.

Size/Age/Growth

Size: 3' to 6' tall in the northern part of its range , but to 10' to 12' tall in the southern part of its range.

Landscaping

Landscape Uses: Naturalistic areas. Water's edge . Shrub border . • Liabilities: Can be short-lived. Can become coarse , sprawling and ungainly. Needs periodic rejuvenation pruning to maintain form and vigor.

Habitat

Hardy to zone 5.

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 1,978 meters (0 to 6,490 feet).[1]

Biology

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Reproduction

Duration: Perennial

Growth

Culture: Likes moisture. Full sun to light shade. Easily grown as long as the site is not dry. Requires periodic rejuventation pruning. Relatively pest free .

Soil: Minimum pH: 6.1 • Maximum pH: 7.8

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Sun to Partial Shade.

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b, 10a, 10b. (map)

Taxonomy

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Synonyms

Cephalanthus acuminatus Raf. • Cephalanthus angustifolius Dippel • Cephalanthus berlandieri Wernham • Cephalanthus hansenii Wernham • Cephalanthus obtusifolius Raf. • Cephalanthus occidentalis californicus (Benth.) E. Murray • Cephalanthus occidentalis f. angustifolia (André) Rehder • Cephalanthus occidentalis f. lanceolatus Fernald • Cephalanthus occidentalis var. brachypodus Dc. • Cephalanthus occidentalis var. californicus Benth. • Cephalanthus occidentalis var. macrophylla Raf. • Cephalanthus occidentalis var. obtusifolius Raf. • Cephalanthus occidentalis var. pubescens Raf. • Cephalanthus oppositifolius Moench • Cephalanthus pubescens Raf.

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Last scrutiny: 11-Nov-2003

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Cephalanthus

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 6 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

C. cephalanthus occidentalis (Common Buttonbush) · C. occidentalis (Button Willow) · C. occidentalis f. lanceolatus (Common Buttonbush) · C. occidentalis 'Angustifolius' (Button Bush 'angustifolius') · C. occidentalis 'Keystone' (Button Willow) · C. salicifolius (Mexican Buttonbush)

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 15, 2007:

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. Mean = 213.580 meters (700.722 feet), Standard Deviation = 227.550 based on 2,746 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
Last Revised: 2012-07-14