Cephalanthus occidentalis L.

More info for the terms: shrub, tree

common buttonbush
buttonball
buttonbush
button willow
riverbush

TAXONOMY:
The scientific name of common buttonbush is Cephalanthus
occidentalis L. (Rubiaceae) [8].


LIFE FORM:
Shrub, Tree

FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS:
No special status

OTHER STATUS:
NO-ENTRY





DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Cephalanthus occidentalis
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION:
Common buttonbush's distribution extends from southern Nova Scotia,
New Brunswick, Quebec, and Ontario south through southern Florida
and west through the eastern half of the Great Plains States [8,16].
Scattered populations exist in New Mexico, Arizona, and the Central
Valley of California [28].

More info for the term: forest

Common buttonbush's distribution extends from southern Nova Scotia,
New Brunswick, Quebec, and Ontario south through southern Florida
and west through the eastern half of the Great Plains States [8,16].
Scattered populations exist in New Mexico, Arizona, and the Central
Valley of California [28].



Distribution of common buttonbush. 1977 USDA, Forest Service map digitized by Thompson and others [37].

More info for the term: shrubs

In Southern marshlands, where grasses are thick and impenetrable, fire
can reduce grass densities and release nutrients, which enhances
establishment of shrubs such as common buttonbush [29].

More info for the term: shrub

Common buttonbush is a wetland shrub common to most swamps and floodplains of
eastern and southern North America [8,28]. It is listed as a component
of the following community types:

Area Classification Authority

CA: Sacramento Valley riparian cts Conard & others 1977
United States wetland cts Cowardin & others 1979

More info for the terms: shrub, tree

Shrub, Tree

More info for the terms: natural, shrubs

Much of common buttonbush's natural habitat in California is being destroyed by
agriculture and water development projects; common buttonbush is not a good
colonizer of manmade waterways [13]. Common buttonbush is moderately
susceptible to herbicides; if shrubs become too thick, they can be
reduced by cutting in the fall during low water [4,18].

More info on this topic.

More info for the term: fruit

Common buttonbush flowers between June and September and produces fruit between
September and October [8,24,28].

More info for the term: seed

off-site colonizer; seed carried by animals or water; postfire yr 1&2

The scientific name of common buttonbush is Cephalanthus
occidentalis L. (Rubiaceae) [8].