Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) is a spreading, multi-branched shrub or sometimes small tree with many branches (often crooked and leaning), balls of white flowers resembling pincushions, and buttonlike balls of fruit.
 
Buttonbush is a handsome ornamental suited to wet soils and is also a honey plant. Ducks and other water birds and shorebirds consume the seeds.
 
Long-lasting, unusual blossoms are white or pale-pink, one-inch globes. Subsequent rounded masses of nutlets persist through the winter, providing food for birds. Trunks are often twisted.