Cephalanthus occidentalis

California button willow, California Button Willow

Family: Rubiaceae · Type: shrub · Native

California button willow is a native shrub found in the southeastern Klamath Ranges, northern Coast Ranges, Sierra Nevada Foothills, central Sierra Nevada, and Central Valley in lake and stream edge habitats at elevations below 1,000 meters. Flowering from May to September, this plant produces white to nearly yellow flowers in dense, spherical heads about 3 to 3.5 centimeters wide. Growing 2 to 10 meters tall with young stems that are round and slightly reddish, it develops a striking architectural form with smooth branches. Its leaves are large and elegant, measuring 7 to 20 centimeters long, elliptical to ovate, with smooth surfaces that become glabrous as they mature. The long, slender flower tubes and exserted stigmas give this shrub a distinctive appearance in wet, riparian environments.

Habitat: Lake, stream edges

Bloom period: May-Sep

Elevation: < 1000 m

Bioregions: se KR, NCoRI, SNF, c SNH, GV, reported from SCoRO, MP

California counties: Butte, Tulare, Kern, Shasta, Tuolumne, Mariposa, El Dorado, Nevada, Merced, Lake, Sutter, Solano, San Joaquin, Tehama, Amador, Calaveras, Kings, Madera, Sacramento, Stanislaus, Trinity, Contra Costa, Fresno, Monterey, Napa, Placer, Colusa, Yolo, Humboldt

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.