Buttonbush vs Falsebox - TreeTime.ca

Buttonbush vs Falsebox

Cephalanthus occidentalis

Paxistima myrsinites

CUSTOM GROW

CUSTOM GROW

Buttonbush
Falsebox

Buttonbush is a moisture loving shrub that provides year round interest.

It has round, fragrant flowers resembling small buttons or pincushions. The flowers transform into small reddish-brown fruit that persists into winter while the leaves take on shades of red in fall.

Providing essential food to bees, butterflies, and other insects, this shrub is versatile. Try it in your next shrub border.

Falsebox is a hardy, native evergreen shrub found in forests, rocky slopes, and open woodland sites. Though small and easily overlooked among the leaves, the maroon flowers still supply nectar and pollen for pollinators such as native bees and flies. Blooming in spring, they provide an important early-season food source. Its year-round greenery adds visual interest through the winter.

Falsebox is a low-growing shrub that tolerates a wide range of conditions, including drought once established. It thrives particularly well beneath the shade of mature trees, where few other plants succeed. With its resilience and ecological value, Falsebox is well-suited for naturalization, restoration projects, and diverse landscape plantings.

Buttonbush Quick Facts

Falsebox Quick Facts

Zone: 4a
Zone: 5a
Height: 2.4 m (8 ft)
Height: 0.5 m (1.5 ft)
Spread: 1.5 m (5 ft)
Spread: 0.5 m (1.5 ft)
Light: any
Light: any
Moisture: normal, wet
Moisture: dry, normal
Growth rate: medium
Growth rate: slow
Life span: long
Life span: medium
Growth form: prostrate to spreading
Spreading: layering - medium
Suckering: low
Maintenance: medium


Foliage: evergreen, leathery leaves
Bark: reddish-brown
Flowers: large, white, spherical
Flowers: small, maroon-purple, fragrant
Bloom time: summer
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no


Native to: ON, QC, NS, NB
Native to: AB, BC
Other Names: false box, mountain boxwood, mountain lover, myrtle boxwood, oregon boxleaf, oregon boxwood