BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Cephalanthus occidentalis | Buttonbush 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Buttonbush is a deciduous, warm-season, tall shrub or small tree that
can reach up to 18 feet (6 m) in height [28].  Its base is often
swollen.  Branches are usually green when young but turn brown at
maturity.  Buttonbush has opposite, lanceolate-oblong leaves about 7
inches (18 cm) long and 3 inches (7.5 cm) wide [24].  Tiny, white
flowers occur in dense, spherical clusters at the ends of the branches.
Fruits are a round cluster of brown, cone-shaped nutlets.  The variety
angustifolius usually has leaves in whorls of threes [28].  The variety
pubescens has hairs on the lower leaf surfaces [8].  The variety
californicus has more lanceolate leaves than the other two varieties
[21].
  


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Phanerophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Buttonbush regenerates by seed.  Seed is best collected when the nutlets
have turned reddish-brown, and averages about 134,000 per pound
(60,702/kg) [31].  Pretreatment of seeds is unnecessary [3].  Seeds have
a low germination rate [28].  Buttonbush can also be propagated by
planting cuttings in moist, sandy soil.


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Buttonbush grows along swamps, marshes, bogs, ditches, and other
riparian areas that are inundated for at least part of the year [8,24].
It grows in alluvial plains that experience intermittant flooding, but
can be damaged by spring flooding [12,20,23].  Faber-Langendoen and
Maycock [7] reported that buttonbush was very tolerant of flooding and
that its abundance increased with increasing water depth.  These authors
also reported an increase in buttonbush with an increase in light level.
Elevational and geographical distribution of buttonbush may be limited
by mean July temperatures of 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 deg C) [13].
Elevations have been reported at 635 feet (193 m) in Illinois [1] and
between 60 and 160 feet (22-50 m) in Quebec [27].  Buttonbush was found
growing in sandy, loamy sandy, or alluvial soil with a sandy or silty
surface in Quebec [27].

Common associates of buttonbush include American beech (Fagus
grandifolia), red maple (Acer rubrum), sugar maple (A. saccharum), ash
(Fraxinus spp.), black oak (Quercus velutina), pin oak (Q. palustris),
tupelo and gum (Nyssa spp.), baldcypress (Taxodium distichum), southern
bayberry (Myrica cerifera), redbay (Persea palustris), holly (Ilex
spp.), dogberry (Ribes cynosbati), grape (Vitis spp.), viburnum
(Viburnum spp.), poison-ivy (Toxicodendron radicans), indiangrass
(Sorgastrom nutans), big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii), switchgrass
(Panicum virgatum), and sedge (Carex spp.) [5,7,11].


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Buttonbush is a pioneer species in frequently flooded baldcypress/water
tupelo (Nyssa aquatica) swamps, establishing on rotting logs and stumps
[35].  In the Sacremento Valley, buttonbush/dogwood (Corunus spp.)
communities are succeeded by white alder (Alnus rhombifolia)/willow
(Salix spp.)/Oregon ash (Fraxinus latifolia) and eventually cottonwood
(Populus spp.) forests [36].  Buttonbush also colonizes lowland marsh
communities dominated by hardstem bulrush (Scirpus acutus).


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Buttonbush flowers between June and September and produces fruit between
September and October [8,24,28].

Related categories for Species: Cephalanthus occidentalis | Buttonbush