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COMMON
BUTTON
(Cephalanthus occidentalis)
button bush
Description:
Stout branching shrub, 5-15 ft. tall. Leaves, 3-5 in. long, oblong,
without marginal teeth, opposite or in whorls of 3-4. Tiny fragrant
white flowers with long white stamens in spherical head. Eastern,
central, western U.S. in moist soils, stream banks, widely cultivated
Toxic,
Medicinal: The bitter-tasting juice of fresh leaves is toxic.
American Indians chewed the inner bark for toothaches, a bark
tea wash was used in eye inflammations. Tea was used for fevers,
coughs, kidney stones, malaria, palsy, pleurisy, produced vomiting,
stopped bleeding and excessive menstrual flow.
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