OF THE CAROLINAS & GEORGIA

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



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.

image of Cephalanthus occidentalis, Buttonbush

Manual of the Trees of North America (Exclusive of Mexico) (Sargent, 1905)    mtna_i_911

        

image of Cephalanthus occidentalis, Buttonbush

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913    pnd_ceoc2_001_lvd

        

image of Cephalanthus occidentalis, Buttonbush

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / US Forest Service    pnd_ceoc2_005_lvd

        

image of Cephalanthus occidentalis, Buttonbush

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide    pnd_ceoc2_009_lvd

        

image of Cephalanthus occidentalis, Buttonbush

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).

image of Cephalanthus occidentalis, Buttonbush

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).

image of Cephalanthus occidentalis, Buttonbush

JK Marlow    jkm150529_118

May    Spartanburg County    SC

image of Cephalanthus occidentalis, Buttonbush

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).

image of Cephalanthus occidentalis, Buttonbush

JK Marlow    jkm0506k_04c

June    Union County    SC

Sumter National Forest: Tyger Ranger District

image of Cephalanthus occidentalis, Buttonbush

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).

image of Cephalanthus occidentalis, Buttonbush

JK Marlow    jkm0506k_25

June    Union County    SC

Sumter National Forest: Tyger Ranger District

image of Cephalanthus occidentalis, Buttonbush

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).

image of Cephalanthus occidentalis, Buttonbush

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).

image of Cephalanthus occidentalis, Buttonbush

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).

image of Cephalanthus occidentalis, Buttonbush

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_c_occidentalis_5

July        

image of Cephalanthus occidentalis, Buttonbush

Gill Newberry    gn08_c_occidentallis_bran

August        

image of Cephalanthus occidentalis, Buttonbush

JK Marlow    jkm210818_2852

August    Greenville County    SC

Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area

image of Cephalanthus occidentalis, Buttonbush

Stephanie C. Brundage    scb_080221hayesville07

August    Clay County    NC

Clay County Native Botanical Garden

image of Cephalanthus occidentalis, Buttonbush

JK Marlow    jkm0509g_04

September    Cabarrus County    NC

Suther Prairie

image of Cephalanthus occidentalis, Buttonbush

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).

image of Cephalanthus occidentalis, Buttonbush

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

 

Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME:

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

map
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
Radially symmetrical
4-lobed calyx, crowded & indistinct
4-lobed tubular corolla
4 stamens
Bisexual

FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Reddish/Greenish/Brown
Nutlet

 

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!



 


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