Honeysuckle

Plant Characteristics

Cultivation

Scientific Names
	Lonicera >

Read about Honeysuckle in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture
Lonicera (after Adam Lonicer or Lonitzer, a German physician and naturalist, 1528-1586). Including Caprifolium, Xylosteum, Nintoa and Charmaecerasus. Caprifoliaceae. Honeysuckle. Ornamental shrubs grown for their handsome, usually profusely produced, often fragrant flowers and attractive berries. Deciduous, rarely half-evergreen or evergreen, upright or climbing: lvs. opposite, usually short- petioled, entire or very rarely sinuately lobed, in a few species with distinct stipules: fls. in axillary peduncled pairs, each pair with 2 bracts and 4 bractlets, the latter often more or less connate into a cupula, sometimes wanting, or fls. in sessile whorls at the end of the branches; calyx 5-toothed: corolla with short or slender, often gibbous tube; 2-lipped or almost equally 5-lobed; stamens 5; ovary inferior, usually 2-3-, rarely 5-celled; the pairs sometimes partly or wholly connate: berry few- to many-seeded.—About 175 species throughout the northern hemisphere, in Amer. south to Mex., in Asia south to Java; about 90 species, besides numerous varieties and many hybrids, are in cult. For an account of the genus see Rehder, Synopsis of the genus Lonicera in Ann. Rep. Missouri Bot. Gard. 14:27-232, 20 pl. (1903). The honeysuckles belong to our most popular ornamental shrubs. They are of easy cultivation and propagation, most of them are quite hardy and the flowers, though rather small, are profusely produced, mostly of pleasing and delicate colors varying from white or yellow to pink, purple or scarlet, and followed by attractive red, yellow, white, blue or black fruits; the shrubs are never coarse or weedy, do not produce dead wood to any extent, do not need much pruning, and are long-lived. The upright or bush honeysuckles are very valuable for shrubberies, and the low procumbent species, like L. spinosa var. Alberli, L. thibetica, L. pileata, and L. trichosantha, are well suited for rockeries. Most of the cultivated species are hardy North, but L. Standishii, L. fragrantissima, L. pileata, L. Ledrbourii, L. quinquelocularis, L. Webbiana, L. rupicola, and other Himalayan species are less hardy and need sheltered positions or protection North. Some of the handsomest in bloom are the well-known L. tatarica, L. Korolkovii, L. spinosa var. Alberti, L. Maackii, L. Morrowi, L. Ledebourii. For their sweet-scented early flowers, L. Standishii and L. fragrantissima are to be recommended. Honeysuckles with very decorative fruits are L. Morrowii, L. tatarica, L. gracilipes,. alpigena, L. trichosantha, L. Maackii var. podocarpa, L. chrysantha. Nearly evergreen are L. pileata and L. nilida; half-evergreen, L. fragrantissima and L. Standishii. Loniceras thrive in almost any good garden soil, and prefer mostly sunny positions, but L. canadensis, L. nigra, L. Ledebourii, L. nispida and L. Xylosteum grow as well or better in partly shaded situations. Pruning may be done during winter except in the early-flowering species, like L.Standishii, L. fragrantissima, L. gracilipes and L. hispida. The climbing honeysuckles are well adapted for covering walls, arbors and other trelliswork; they have mostly handsome and often sweet-scented flowers, in the hardy L. tragophylla as long as 3 inches, in the tender L. Hilde- brandiana as long as 7 inches, but are somewhat deficient in foliage, with the exception of L. japonica, and liable to become leafless and unsightly at the base, and therefore may be mixed with other climbers, like ampelopsis, akebia, clematis. They perhaps show their beauty to the best advantage when allowed to ramble over shrubs and small trees. Those of the Caprifolium group are mostly hardy North, with the exception of the species of southern Europe and L. his- pidula, while of the Nintoa group L. japonica and L. Henryi are hardy North, at least in a sheltered position; these species make also a very handsome ground-cover, and, like L. Periclymenum, grow well in shade, but the others prefer sunny positions. Propagation is by seeds sown in fall or stratified and by cuttings of ripened wood; also by greenwood cuttings under glass in summer, but the species of the Periclymenum group grow less readily in this way. Most species hybridize very easily and only seeds collected from isolated plants should be used for propagation. L. spinosa var. Alberti is sometimes grafted high on stems of L. tatarica, thus forming a small weeping tree. The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

For the New Zealand honeysuckle tree see Rewarewa; for the Australian honeysuckle, see Banksia integrifolia.

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Honeysuckle

Lonicera periclymenum

Plant Info

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Dipsacales
Family:	Caprifoliaceae
Genus:	Lonicera L.

Species

See text - Selected Species

Honeysuckles (genus Lonicera; syn. Caprifolium Mill.) are arching shrubs or twining vines in the family Caprifoliaceae, native to the Northern Hemisphere. There are about 180 species of honeysuckle, with by far the greatest diversity in China, where over 100 species occur; by comparison, Europe and North America have only about 20 native species each. Widely known species include Lonicera periclymenum (European Honeysuckle), Lonicera japonica (Japanese Honeysuckle, White Honeysuckle, or Chinese Honeysuckle) and Lonicera sempervirens (Coral Honeysuckle, Trumpet Honeysuckle, or Woodbine Honeysuckle).

The leaves are opposite, simple oval, and from 1–10 cm long; most are deciduous but some are evergreen. Many of the species have sweetly-scented, bell-shaped flowers that produce a sweet, edible nectar. The fruit is a red, blue or black berry containing several seeds; in most species the berries are mildly poisonous, but a few (notably Lonicera caerulea) have edible berries. The plant is eaten by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species - see list of Lepidoptera which feed on Honeysuckles.

Cultivation and uses

Lonicera xylosteum (Fly Honeysuckle) is a common homeopathic remedy, used for asthma, breathing difficulties and syphilis. Lonicera periclymenum (European honeysuckle) is an uncommon homeopathic remedy, used for irritability with violent outbursts.

Wood cuttings from the species Lonicera tartarica, native to Eurasia, are sold as cat toys. The wood contains nepetalactone, which is the active ingredient found in catnip. Many breeds of cats react to the scent of the wood and will paw, lick or rub against it.

Lonicera japonica and Lonicera maackii (Amur Honeysuckle) are considered invasive weeds in the United States and in New Zealand. Honeysuckle can be controlled by cutting, flaming, or burning the plant to root level and repeating on two-week increments until nutrient reserves in the roots are depleted. Honeysuckle can also be controlled through annual applications of glyphosate, or through grubbing if high labor and soil destruction are not of concern.

Honeysuckles are also eaten by children, who remove the blossom by hand to suck at the sweet nectar in the center.

Another name for honeysuckle is woodbine; and eglantine is used in Milton's L'Allegro.