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Bogbutton

Lachnocaulon spp.

Bogbutton Locations in Southeast US
Bogbutton Locations in North America
bog button up close

bog button

USDA, NRCS. 2018. The PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov, 28 March 2018). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC 27401-4901 USA.
Illustration: USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions. 3 vols. Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York. Vol. 1: 456.

What is Bogbutton?

Other common spellings and names include: whitehead bogbutton, hairy pipewort, hat-pins, bog bachelor’s-buttons.

Physical Characteristics

Leaves:

  • Grass-like
  • Grow from stem base
  • Spiraling
  • Clustered
  • Thin
  • Up to 2 inches long

Flowers:

  • Button-like
  • Range from white to gray
  • Located at tips of long stems
  • Densely clustered
  • Bloom in spring and summer

Stem:

  • Bunching
  • Hairy
  • Up to 16 inches tall

Roots:

  • Dark colored
  • Thin
  • Branchings

Where Does it Grow?

Bogbutton is not very common. There are three species found only in Southeast Texas in moist sands, peats of shores, pine savannah, bog edges, and flatwoods clearings.

Pros and Cons of Bogbutton

Submerged portions of all aquatic plants provide habitats for many micro and macro invertebrates. These invertebrates in turn are used as food by fish and other wildlife species (e.g. amphibians, reptiles, ducks, etc.). After aquatic plants die, their decomposition by bacteria and fungi provides food (called “detritus”) for many aquatic invertebrates.

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Photo Credits: The majority of the aquatic plant line drawings are the copyright of the University of Florida Center for Aquatic Plants (Gainsville). They are used with permission.

Aquatic plant photographs were provided by David Bayne, Jim Davis, Kelly Duffie, Billy Higginbotham, Michael Masser, John Clayton, Chetta Owens, Diane Smith, Joe Snow, Don Steinbach, Bridget Robinson Lassiter and Peter Woods.

You may use these photos, so long as you give credit to AquaPlant.

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