Buttonbush, also called honey-bells and button-willow, is a deciduous shrub or small tree native to wetlands such as swamps, marshes, riverbanks, and floodplains from New Brunswick and Minnesota south to Florida and Mexico, west to California. It is member of the madder family, Rubiaceae that also includes coffee, gardenia, and Pentas. The plants grow 5-12′ tall and have glossy oval leaves that emerge in late spring and are up to six inches long. In early to mid summer, dense spherical cluster of tiny sweet-smelling white flowers emerge. The clusters are up to 1.5″ across and the flowers are tubular, five-lobed, and have long styles that give them a fuzzy appearance. Butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds are attracted to the nectar. The fruit is a spherical hard cluster of nutlets that are attractive to birds. Wood ducks use the plant for nests and deer browse the foliage. Plants are adaptable to a variety of soil conditions except dryness . It can tolerate flooding and can even be used in standing water so is a good choice for wet areas and pond margins as well as shrub borders and woodland gardens. The generic name Cephalanthus comes from the Greek words cephalo meaning head, and anthos meaning flower. The specific epithet occidentalis is the Latin word meaning western.
Type: Deciduous shrub or small tree
Outstanding Feature: Flowers; tolerance of wet soil
Form: Rounded
Growth Rate: Rapid
Bloom: Tiny white tubular, five-loved, sweet-smelling flowers with long styles; in spherical dense clusters up to 1.5” in diameter in early to midsummer
Size: 5-12’ H x 4’10’ W
Light: Full sun to partial shade
Soil: Average, moist
Hardiness: Zones 5-10
Care: Prune in early spring to control size and remove dead branches; plants can be heavily pruned.
Pests and Diseases: None of significance
Propagation: Seed, cuttings in early spring
Photo Credit Wikimedia Commons