Plant
Honeysuckle
Lonicera (genus)
Also known as: Lonicera, Lonicera japonica
A genus of around 180 species of flowering shrubs and vines in the family Caprifoliaceae — native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The vines are famous for their sweet nectar (the source of the 'honeysuckle' common name — childhood memory across the English-speaking world is of pulling out the flower stamen to taste the drop of nectar at its base). Several species are highly invasive when planted outside native range; Japanese honeysuckle (*Lonicera japonica*) is among the worst invasive plants in the eastern United States.
Scientific
Lonicera (family Caprifoliaceae) contains ~180 species — both vining and shrub forms. Principal species:
- Lonicera japonica — Japanese honeysuckle; vigorous vine; among the worst invasive species in eastern North America
- Lonicera periclymenum — European honeysuckle / woodbine; native to Europe; less invasive
- Lonicera sempervirens — coral / trumpet honeysuckle; eastern North American native; hummingbird-pollinated
- Lonicera caprifolium — perfoliate honeysuckle (pictured)
The species’ famous sweet nectar is produced at the base of the tubular flower. Children across the English-speaking countryside have been carefully pulling the stamens to taste the drop of nectar for generations.
Cultural and ecological
Native honeysuckles (L. sempervirens in eastern North America, L. periclymenum in Europe) are pollinator favorites — hummingbirds especially, in the American native species. The flowers are night-fragrant in many species, attracting hawkmoths in addition to bees and butterflies.
The invasiveness problem is severe for Japanese honeysuckle in eastern North America — the species was introduced as an ornamental in the 1800s and has now smothered substantial acreage of woodland understory across the eastern US, displacing native plants and altering forest succession. Many state native-plant societies list it among the worst invasive plants.
The name “woodbine” applied to L. periclymenum in older British literature is the same plant — Shakespeare’s “I know a bank where the wild thyme blows, where oxlips and the nodding violet grows, / Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine, with sweet musk-roses and with eglantine” (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) places honeysuckle alongside other iconic English wildflowers.
See also
Auto-generated from this entry’s typed relations: frontmatter, grouped by relation type so the editorial signal isn’t flattened.
- Shares approach with: [[jasmine]] · [[ivy]] · [[wineberry]] · [[water-hyacinth]] · [[tree-of-heaven]] · [[tea]]
- Member of: [[plants]]
Sources
- Wikipedia — Honeysuckle
A plant entry in the 0mn1.one [[directory]].
What links here, and how
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General
shares approach with
- Jasmine auto-linked via shared tag: asia
1 inbound link · 7 outbound