BUTTON-BUSH. BUTTON-WILLOW.
Cephalanthus occidentalis, L. Madder Family.
Shrubs eight to ten feet high. Leaves.—Opposite, or in whorls of three or four; petioled; ovate to lanceolate; three to five inches long. Flowers.—Small; white; in spherical heads an inch in diameter. Calyx.—Four-toothed. Corolla.—Long funnel-form with four-cleft limb. Stamens.—Four; short; borne on the throat of the corolla. Ovary.—Two- to four-celled. Style long-exserted. Stigma capitate. Hab.—Throughout the State.
The button-bush is a handsome shrub, found upon stream borders, often standing where its roots are constantly under water. Its leaves are willow-like, and its spherical flower-heads, poised gracefully at the ends of the branches, resemble small cushions filled with pins. The blossoms often have a jessamine-like fragrance.
A tincture made of the bark is used by physicians as a tonic and laxative and as a remedy for fevers and coughs.
This shrub is especially abundant in the interior, on the lower reaches of the San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers, where it is in bloom from June to August.
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