Big white puff balls? Buttonbush looks ready to fight
What kind of plant is this crazy looking thing? Found at Choo Choo Rapids in the James River. Big white puff balls? Chris French of the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay is a nature encyclopedia and he knew the answer. He said it was a Buttonbush. “It’s a nice native shrub for our area,” he said. Cephalanthus […]
What kind of plant is this crazy looking thing? Found at Choo Choo Rapids in the James River. Big white puff balls? Chris French of the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay is a nature encyclopedia and he knew the answer.
He said it was a Buttonbush. “It’s a nice native shrub for our area,” he said. Cephalanthus occidentalis, see this information from the Virginia Department of Forestry:
- Seedling Height: 8 to 16 inches
- Mature Size: 15 to 20 feet in height and 6 inches in diameter
- Type: Deciduous
- Growth Rate: Fast
- Form: Upright, multiple branching shrub
- Soil Type: Clay, loamy, moist soil but well drained
- Light: Partial shade, partial sun, full sun
- Foliage: Opposite, elliptical, 3 to 5 inches long
- Blooms: Mid summer
- Flowers: White tubular flowers that occur in a dense round cluster
- Fruit: Round cluster of nuttlets, mature in late summer to fall
- Values and Uses: A wetland shrub suitable for riparian area, wetland restoration or created wetlands. Have great exceptional wildlife benefits. The seed is eaten by waterfowl and browse on by mammals.
- Did You Know? Can tolerate water in depths of 3 feet.
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