Cephalanthus occidentalis L.

vernacular common buttonbush — species · Rubiaceae

USDA: CEOC2
GBIF: 2923947
Rank: species

common buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) — Platephotograph · flwildbeauty source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Shrub, Tree
Duration: Perennial
Group: Dicot
Family: Rubiaceae Juss.
Genus: Cephalanthus

§2a

Native status, by region

CAN Canada Native
L48 Lower 48 States Native

§2b

County-level range

· 3 counties across 1 state

Legend Native · 3 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: Medium
Shade: Low
Moisture use: High
Fire: Medium
Salinity: Low
Anaerobic: High
CaCO₃: Medium
Hedging: None

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: -33 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 150 min.
Precipitation: 20–80 in/yr
pH range: 4.7–8.6
Root depth: 14 in min.
Fertility need: Low
Soil texture: coarse, medium, fine

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Multiple Stem
Growth rate: Moderate
Lifespan: Short
Mature height: 15 ft
Height @ 20 y: 15 ft
Foliage texture: Coarse
Foliage colour: Green
Porosity (summer): Moderate
Porosity (winter): Porous
Flower colour: White
Fruit colour: White
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: None
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Summer
Seed abundance: Medium
Seed begins: Fall
Seed ends: Fall
Spread rate: Moderate
Stratify: No
Seeds / lb: 134,000
Propagation: seed, cuttings, bare root, container

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: Routinely Available
Nursery stock: No
Browse palatability: Low
Graze palatability: Low
Palatable, human: No
Lumber: No
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 3 counties across 1 state.

Rhode Island view state ↗ 3 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/CEOC2 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2923947 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T18:27:19Z