152 Madder (Rubidcece) 



21. Family RUBlACE^. (Madder Fam.) 

 Genus CEPHALANTHUS, L. 



From two Greek words meaning "head" and "a flower," referring to the 

 arrangement of the round flower-clusters. 



Fig. 68. Button-Bush. C. occidentdlis, L. 



Flowers, white, in dense spherical heads each head 

 nearly an inch in diameter, on a long stalk. Corolla, 

 with united petals, tubular, four-toothed. Calyx-tube, 

 inversely pyramid-shaped. Stamens, four, inserted 

 on the tube of the corolla. Style, much exserted, 

 long, and thread-like nearly twice as long as the 

 corolla. Seed-case, adherent to the calyx. July, 

 August. 



Leaves, variable, three to five inches long, simple, oppo* 

 site (often whorled in threes), egg-shape to oblong, 

 and reverse egg-shape, edge entire, strongly veined. 

 Base, pointed or rounded. Stipules, short, connecting 

 the bases of the opposite leaf-stems. 



Fruit, small, inversely pyramid-shaped, dry and hard. 

 Cells, two to four, each with one seed, splitting from 

 the base upwards. September. 



Found, in swamps and along streams of United States 

 and Canada. 



A vigorous shrub about four feet high. It is some- 

 times found on elevated ground, where it serves, it is 

 claimed, as a good sign of the presence of hidden springs. 

 The inner bark is sometimes used as a cough medicine. 



