Day #523 Buttonbush

So, I went looking for the Buttonbush I mentioned yesterday  and found lots of internet info sources about Cephalanthus occidentalis. All of them said that the buttonbush is highly beneficial to honey bees and bumble bees.

The University of Texas native Plant Databaset Society website has plenty of colorful pictures of buttonbush. Here are a few - and all of them, by the way, list “unrestricted usage,” so I’m not infringing on any copyrights:

Green one and white one - both by Andy and Sally Wasowski of Burnet TX, who call themselves the Botanical Missionaries:

This photo that shows the red fruit form is by Joseph A. Marcus of Canyon Lake TX:

And finally, Sandy Smith of Sunset TX shows us this clump of fruit. Note the little critter (only the legs are showing) on the leftmost fruit.  Is it a spider? If you can't see it well enough, click on the "clump of fruit" link.

The buttonbush can grow to 10 feet tall, and it likes all kinds of soil, but particularly wet ones. And it likes shade.

I’m going to think about planting one down by the creek.

BEEattitude for Day #523:

       Blessed are those who are curious about how life works, for they shall be endlessly entertained.

_______________________________ 

The teeny details:

my books:  http://www.franstewart.com Please buy them from an independent bookstore or directly from my website.

my eBooks for Kindle:  http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=Fran+Stewart