Buttonbush Flowers
Buttonbush, Cephalanthus occidentalis, is native to Florida, found throughout the state as well as much of the eastern United States and Canada. Its native rang...
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Buttonbush, Cephalanthus occidentalis, is native to Florida, found throughout the state as well as much of the eastern United States and Canada. Its native range extends into the Great Plains, and there are pockets of buttonbush in Arizona and California, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It's also native to Cuba, Mexico and Central America.
It is a water-loving plant, found along the edges of swamps and streams, ponds and lakes in places that get full sun. It will grow in places that are covered with water a portion of the year. Buttonbush can be shrubby or tree-like, usually reaching 10 or 20 feet tall. Flowers bloom early spring through summer.
If you're a wood duck, a deer, a butterfly or a bee, you gotta love buttonbush because of the vital role it plays in your life. It offers both food and shelter. This is an important plant for many kinds of animals. Wood ducks will raise their brood and find cover from predators in its tangles. Other ducks and many shorebirds and wading birds eat buttonbush seeds. Deer browse on it; in some places, it's an important part of their diet. Bees make honey from its nectar; many butterflies, including the clouded skipper and Delaware skipper, love the nectar. Hummingbirds visit not only for the nectar but also to nab a bug or two. Many birds will nest in its branches.
Buttonbush was an important part of the Native American medicine cabinet. The Chickasaw and Choctaw used buttonbush to make an eye wash, an antidiarrhea medicine, an anti-inflammatory and arthritis medication. They chewed the bark to relieve toothaches.
The Seminoles used buttonbush for headache relief, for fevers, stomach aches, menstrual problems, constipation, jaundice, urinary problems and as a general tonic. The odd thing is that buttonbush also contains a poison, cephalathin, which can cause vomiting, paralysis, and convulsions if ingested.
For us modern-day humans, however, it's a plant easy to take for granted, other than those eye-catching balls of tiny flowers.
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It is a water-loving plant, found along the edges of swamps and streams, ponds and lakes in places that get full sun. It will grow in places that are covered with water a portion of the year. Buttonbush can be shrubby or tree-like, usually reaching 10 or 20 feet tall. Flowers bloom early spring through summer.
If you're a wood duck, a deer, a butterfly or a bee, you gotta love buttonbush because of the vital role it plays in your life. It offers both food and shelter. This is an important plant for many kinds of animals. Wood ducks will raise their brood and find cover from predators in its tangles. Other ducks and many shorebirds and wading birds eat buttonbush seeds. Deer browse on it; in some places, it's an important part of their diet. Bees make honey from its nectar; many butterflies, including the clouded skipper and Delaware skipper, love the nectar. Hummingbirds visit not only for the nectar but also to nab a bug or two. Many birds will nest in its branches.
Buttonbush was an important part of the Native American medicine cabinet. The Chickasaw and Choctaw used buttonbush to make an eye wash, an antidiarrhea medicine, an anti-inflammatory and arthritis medication. They chewed the bark to relieve toothaches.
The Seminoles used buttonbush for headache relief, for fevers, stomach aches, menstrual problems, constipation, jaundice, urinary problems and as a general tonic. The odd thing is that buttonbush also contains a poison, cephalathin, which can cause vomiting, paralysis, and convulsions if ingested.
For us modern-day humans, however, it's a plant easy to take for granted, other than those eye-catching balls of tiny flowers.
_DS30631caf2.JPG
Read less
Apr, 2023Views
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