Button-bush.Cephalanthus occidentalis.
Found on low, moist ground, and along borders of ponds, in June and July.
A shrub from 3 to 5 feet high, with a stout, woody stem, covered with a smooth reddish-brown bark.
The leaf, tapering at both ends, is 3 or 4 inches long, on a short foot-stem; the surface is usually smooth, and the texture tough; of a strong green color.
The small, tubular flower is 4-parted at the top, and of a dull, white color. Many flowers are set together in a dense, round head, with the pistils radiating in all directions. These sweet-scented flower-balls grow on foot-stems, 2 or 3 inches long, in clusters of 3 to 5 or 7, from the ends of the branches.
The Button-balls ripen in October, and are then noticeable among the plentiful pods and berries of the season. They are dull red and green in color, turning to a fine brown with the touch of frost. Picked early in the season they make a pleasing addition to the pod-gatherer’s winter collection.