Honeysuckles are arching shrub

Shrub

A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...

s or twining vine

Vine

A vine in the narrowest sense is the grapevine , but more generally it can refer to any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent, that is to say climbing, stems or runners...

s in the family Caprifoliaceae

Caprifoliaceae

The Caprifoliaceae or honeysuckle family is a clade consisting of about 800 dicotyledonous flowering plants, with a nearly cosmopolitan distribution; centres of diversity are found in eastern North America and eastern Asia, while they are absent in tropical and southern Africa.They are mostly...

, native to the Northern Hemisphere

Northern Hemisphere

The Northern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is north of its equator—the word hemisphere literally means “half sphere”. It is also that half of the celestial sphere north of the celestial equator...

. There are about 180 species of honeysuckle, 100 of which occur in China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

; Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 and North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

 have only about 20 native species each. Widely known species include Lonicera periclymenum (European Honeysuckle or Woodbine), Lonicera japonica (Japanese Honeysuckle, White Honeysuckle, or Chinese Honeysuckle) and Lonicera sempervirens

Lonicera sempervirens

Lonicera sempervirens is a species of honeysuckle native to the eastern United States.It is an evergreen twining shrubby vine growing to several meters high through shrubs and young trees...

(Coral Honeysuckle, Trumpet Honeysuckle, or Woodbine Honeysuckle). Hummingbirds are attracted to these plants.

The leaves

Leaf

A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....

 are opposite, simple oval, 1–10 cm long; most are deciduous

Deciduous

Deciduous means "falling off at maturity" or "tending to fall off", and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally, and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe...

 but some are evergreen

Evergreen

In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant that has leaves in all seasons. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage during the winter or dry season.There are many different kinds of evergreen plants, both trees and shrubs...

. Many of the species have sweetly-scented, bell-shaped flower

Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...

s that produce a sweet, edible nectar. Breaking of the Honeysuckle's stem will release this powerful sweet odor. The fruit

Fruit

In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...

 is a red, blue or black berry

Berry

The botanical definition of a berry is a fleshy fruit produced from a single ovary. Grapes are an example. The berry is the most common type of fleshy fruit in which the entire ovary wall ripens into an edible pericarp. They may have one or more carpels with a thin covering and fleshy interiors....

 containing several seeds; in most species the berries are mildly poison

Poison

In the context of biology, poisons are substances that can cause disturbances to organisms, usually by chemical reaction or other activity on the molecular scale, when a sufficient quantity is absorbed by an organism....

ous, but a few (notably Lonicera caerulea

Lonicera caerulea

Lonicera caerulea is a honeysuckle native throughout the cool temperate Northern Hemisphere....

) have edible berries. The plant is eaten by the larva

Larva

A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...

e of some Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera is a large order of insects that includes moths and butterflies . It is one of the most widespread and widely recognizable insect orders in the world, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies, skipper butterflies, and moth-butterflies...

 species - see list of Lepidoptera that feed on honeysuckles.

The name Lonicera stems from Adam Lonicer

Adam Lonicer

Adam Lonicer, Adam Lonitzer or Adamus Lonicerus was a German botanist, noted for his 1557 revised version of Eucharius Rösslin’s herbal....

, a Renaissance botanist.

Several species of Lonicera have become invasive

Invasive species

"Invasive species", or invasive exotics, is a nomenclature term and categorization phrase used for flora and fauna, and for specific restoration-preservation processes in native habitats, with several definitions....

 when introduced outside their native range, particularly in New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 and the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Invasive species include L. japonica, L. maackii

Lonicera maackii

Lonicera maackii is a species of honeysuckle in the family Caprifoliaceae, native to temperate Asia in northern and western China , Mongolia, Japan , Korea, and southeastern Russia .It is listed as an endangered species in Japan...

, L. morrowii, and L. tatarica

Lonicera tatarica

Lonicera tatarica is a species of honeysuckle known by the common name Tatarian honeysuckle. It is native to Siberia and other parts of eastern Asia, but it is probably better known in North America, where it is a widespread introduced species and noxious weed...

.

Medicinal properties

Honeysuckle is used in herbal cough medicines.

Selected species

Lonicera acuminata

Lonicera albiflora - White Honeysuckle

Lonicera alpigena

Lonicera alpigena

Alpine Honeysuckle is a species of honeysuckle native to mountain forests of Central and Southern Europe. It is sometimes cultivated as an ornamental plant outside its native range. It is a deciduous shrub up to 2 m high, and in late summer, bears conspicuous brilliant red inedible fruits...

- Alpine Honeysuckle

Lonicera altmannii

Lonicera angustifolia

Lonicera anisocalyx

Lonicera arborea

Lonicera arizonica - Arizona Honeysuckle

Lonicera biflora

Lonicera bournei

Lonicera brevisepala

Lonicera buchananii

Lonicera buddleioides

Lonicera caerulea

Lonicera caerulea

Lonicera caerulea is a honeysuckle native throughout the cool temperate Northern Hemisphere....

- Blue-berried Honeysuckle

Lonicera calcarata

Lonicera calvescens

Lonicera canadensis

Lonicera canadensis

Lonicera canadensis is a flowering deciduous, perennial, phanerophytic shrub which is monoclinous and grows 1–2 m tall. It is the only member of its genus with hairless leaf structures. It typically flowers from the last week of April until the third or fourth week of May...

- American Fly Honeysuckle

Lonicera caprifolium - Perfoliate Honeysuckle

Lonicera carnosifolis

Lonicera chrysantha - Chrysantha Honeysuckle

Lonicera ciliosa

Lonicera ciliosa

Lonicera ciliosa is a honeysuckle native to forests of western North America. A deciduous shrub growing to tall with hollow twigs, the leaves are opposite, oval, long with the last pair on each twig merged to form a disk...

- Orange Honeysuckle

Lonicera ciliosissima

Lonicera cinerea

Lonicera codonantha

Lonicera confusa

Lonicera conjugialis

Lonicera conjugialis

Lonicera conjugialis is a species of honeysuckle known by the common name purpleflower honeysuckle. It is native to the western United States from Pacific Northwest to the Sierra Nevada, where it grows in many types of mountain habitat, especially moist areas. This is a slender shrub often...

- Purpleflower Honeysuckle

Lonicera crassifolia

Lonicera cyanocarpa

Lonicera dasystyla - Tonkinese Honeysuckle

Lonicera dioica - Limber Honeysuckle

Lonicera elisae

Lonicera etrusca - Etruscan honeysuckle

Lonicera fargesii

Lonicera ferdinandii

Lonicera ferruginea

Lonicera flava - Yellow Honeysuckle

Lonicera fragilis

Lonicera fragrantissima - Winter Honeysuckle

Lonicera fulvotomentosa

Lonicera glutinosa

Lonicera graebneri

Lonicera gynochlamydea

Lonicera hellenica - Greek Honeysuckle

Lonicera hemsleyana

Lonicera heterophylla

Lonicera hildebrandiana - Giant Burmese Honeysuckle

Lonicera hirsuta - Hairy Honeysuckle

Lonicera hispida

Lonicera hispidula

Lonicera hispidula

The perennial vine Lonicera hispidula is a species of honeysuckle known as pink honeysuckle and, less often, California honeysuckle. It is a low-elevation woodlands shrub—vine found on the West Coast of the United States...

- Pink Honeysuckle

Lonicera humilis

Lonicera hypoglauca

Lonicera hypoleuca

Lonicera implexa

Lonicera inconspicua

Lonicera inodora

Lonicera interrupta

Lonicera interrupta

Lonicera interrupta is a species of honeysuckle known by the common name chaparral honeysuckle. It is a hardy shrub with a woody trunk which sends up spike inflorescences of yellow honeysuckle flowers. Each flower is about a centimeter long, with prominent stamens extending from the rolled-back...

- Chaparral Honeysuckle

Lonicera involucrata

Lonicera involucrata

Lonicera involucrata is a species of honeysuckle native to northern and western North America, from southern Alaska east across boreal Canada to Quebec, and south through the western United States to California, and to Chihuahua in northwestern Mexico...

- Bearberry honeysuckle

Lonicera japonica - Japanese Honeysuckle

Lonicera jilongensis

Lonicera kansuensis

Lonicera kawakamii

Lonicera korolkowii - Blueleaf Honeysuckle

Lonicera lanceolata

Lonicera ligustrina

Lonicera litangensis

Lonicera longiflora

Lonicera longituba

Lonicera maackii

Lonicera maackii

Lonicera maackii is a species of honeysuckle in the family Caprifoliaceae, native to temperate Asia in northern and western China , Mongolia, Japan , Korea, and southeastern Russia .It is listed as an endangered species in Japan...

- Amur Honeysuckle

Lonicera macrantha

Lonicera macranthoides

Lonicera maximowiczii

Lonicera microphylla

Lonicera minuta

Lonicera minutifolia

Lonicera modesta

Lonicera morrowii - Morrow's honeysuckle

Lonicera mucronata

Lonicera myrtillus

Lonicera nervosa

Lonicera nigra - Black-berried Honeysuckle

Lonicera nitida

Lonicera nitida

Lonicera nitida is a species of perennial shrub, a member of the honeysuckle genus Lonicera. In English, it is sometimes given the common names "boxleaf honeysuckle" or "Wilson's honeysuckle"...

- Box or Boxleaf honeysuckle

Lonicera nubium

Lonicera nummulariifolia

Lonicera oblata

Lonicera oblongifolia - Swamp Fly Honeysuckle

Lonicera oiwakensis

Lonicera oreodoxa

Lonicera orientalis

Lonicera pampaninii

Lonicera paradoxa

Lonicera periclymenum - Common (or European) honeysuckle, Woodbine

Lonicera pileata

Lonicera pileata

Lonicera pileata is a species of honeysuckle native to central and southwestern China.It is a low, ground-covering shrub growing to 1 m tall. The leaves are small, 1–3 cm long, glossy, and evergreen in mild winters. The flowers are white, tubular, and borne in spring, followed by purple...

- Privet honeysuckle

Lonicera pilosa - Mexican Honeysuckle

Lonicera praeflorens

Lonicera prostrata

Lonicera pyrenaica

Lonicera reticulata - Grape Honeysuckle

Lonicera retusa

Lonicera rhytidophylla

Lonicera rupicola

Lonicera ruprechtiana - Manchurian Honeysuckle

Lonicera saccata

Lonicera schneideriana

Lonicera semenovii

Lonicera sempervirens

Lonicera sempervirens

Lonicera sempervirens is a species of honeysuckle native to the eastern United States.It is an evergreen twining shrubby vine growing to several meters high through shrubs and young trees...

- Trumpet Honeysuckle

Lonicera serreana

Lonicera setifera

Lonicera similis

Lonicera spinosa

Lonicera splendida - Evergreen Honeysuckle

Lonicera standishii - Standish's Honeysuckle

Lonicera stephanocarpa

Lonicera subaequalis

Lonicera subhispida

Lonicera sublabiata

Lonicera subspicata

Lonicera subspicata

Lonicera subspicata is a species of honeysuckle known by the common name southern honeysuckle. It is endemic to California, where it is known from several areas in mountain and coastal habitat, particularly chaparral. It is a vining shrub which usually climbs on other plants for support. It may...

- Southern Honeysuckle

Lonicera szechuanica

Lonicera taipeiensis

Lonicera tangutica

Lonicera tatarica

Lonicera tatarica

Lonicera tatarica is a species of honeysuckle known by the common name Tatarian honeysuckle. It is native to Siberia and other parts of eastern Asia, but it is probably better known in North America, where it is a widespread introduced species and noxious weed...

- Tartarian Honeysuckle

Lonicera tatarinowii

Lonicera tomentella

Lonicera tragophylla

Lonicera tricalysioides

Lonicera trichogyne

Lonicera trichosantha

Lonicera trichosepala

Lonicera tubuliflora

Lonicera utahensis - Utah Honeysuckle

Lonicera villosa - Mountain Fly Honeysuckle

Lonicera virgultorum

Lonicera webbiana

Lonicera xylosteum

Lonicera xylosteum

Lonicera xylosteum, commonly known as Fly honeysuckle, European Fly Honeysuckle, Dwarf Honeysuckle or Fly Woodbine is a deciduous shrub. It is one of two honeysuckles native to Britain, the other being the Common Honeysuckle ....

- (European) Fly Honeysuckle, Dwarf Honeysuckle, Fly Woodbine

Lonicera yunnanensis

Formerly placed here

• Burchellia bubalina (L.f.) Sims (as L. bubalina L.f.)
• Chiococca alba
  Chiococca alba
  Chiococca alba is a species of flowering plant in the coffee family, Rubiaceae, that is native to Florida and the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas in the United States, Bermuda, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and tropical South America. Common names include David's Milkberry, West Indian...
  
  (L.) Hitchc. (as L. alba L.)
• Spigelia marilandica
  Spigelia marilandica
  Spigelia marilandica is a perennial wildflower in the Loganiaceae family that is used as ornamental plant. It flowers in June and tends to be found low moist woods, ravines, or streambanks in partial or full shade. It will grow to 1 to 2 feet high with a spread of 0.5 to 1.5...
  
  (L.) L. (as L. marilandica L.)
• Symphoricarpos orbiculatus
  Symphoricarpos orbiculatus
  Symphoricarpos orbiculatus, commonly called coralberry, buckbrush or Indian currant is a woody species of flowering plant in the honeysuckle family.-Description:...
  
  Moench (as L. symphoricarpos L.)
• Viburnum mongolicum (Pall.) Rehder (as L. mongolica Pall.)

External links

• Flora Europaea: Lonicera
• Flora of China: Lonicera species list