Monday, March 3, 2014
Buttonbush
A variable medium shrub to small tree that can be deciduous or evergreen depending on climate. Some records include: fastest recorded growth rate - 3 feet; largest on record - 50 x 25 feet with a trunk diameter of 1.7 feet ( rarely over 15 feet in cool climates ). It is native to swampy sites in southern Canada and the United States south into Central America and Cuba. In North America; it is native from eastern Nebraska to Minnesota to southern Quebec & New Brunswick; south to eastern Texas to Florida, with an additional disjunct range in central California.
The pointed, elliptic leaves, up to 12 x 8 ( typically 6 x 4 ) inches, are glossy deep green above, bright green beneath.
The lightly scented, white to creamy-white, dense flowerheads, up to 2 inches across, are borne during the summer.
The bark is rough and furrowed.
Hardy zones 5 to 11 in full sun to partial shade on moist to wet soil. It can tolerate seasonal flooding up to 3 feet deep but requires a climate with hot humid summers. Propagation is from seed ( easy with no pretreatment ) or cuttings ( early summer or winter ). An attractive luxuriant landscape plant for very wet sites where little else will grow. It is rarely eaten by deer, insect pests and disease problems rarely occur.
* photos taken on Aug 1 2011 in Luzerne Co, PA
* photos taken on Aug 20 2011 @ Brookside Gardens, Wheaton, MD
* photos taken on Aug 3 2012 in London, ON
* videos found on Youtube
* photos taken on June 30 2013 @ U.S. National Arboretum, DC
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