Japanese honeysuckle
Lonicera japonica
Japanese honeysuckle,Chinese Honeysuckle,Gold-and-silver Honeysuckle,Hall's Honeysuckle
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Description
Lonicera japonica is a twining vine able to climb up to 10 m (33 ft) high or more in trees, with opposite, simple oval leaves 3–8 cm (1.2–3.1 in) long and 2–3 cm (0.79–1.18 in) broad. When its stems are young, they are slightly red in color and may be fuzzy. Older stems are brown with peeling bark, and are often hollow on the inside. The flowers are double-tongued, opening white and fading to yellow, and sweetly vanilla scented. The fruit, which is produced in fall, is a black spherical berry 3–4 mm (0.12–0.16 in) diameter containing a few seeds. While the nectar from the flowers can be safely consumed by humans, all other parts of the plant have the potential to be toxic.
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Taxonomy
Order
Dipsacales
Family
Caprifoliaceae
Genus
Lonicera
Characteristics
Bloom Time
Late spring or early summer, Summer, Late summer or early fall, Fall
Plant Type
Vine, Edible, Ground Cover, Poisonous, Weed
Lifespan
Perennial, Woody
Flower
White, fragrant flowers that fade to a creamy yellow and bloom for most of the summer. They are fragrant, 1-1.5" in size, and are borne in peduncled pairs in axils. The 2-lipped flowers are comprised of 5 petals united into a 1- to 2-inch-long tube.
Fruit
Fruits are rounded berries, to 7 mm, green, then red and ripening to blue-black. A berry contains several seeds that are dark gray-brown and less than 1/8 inch long. One side of each seed is 3-ridged while the other is either flat or concave.
How to Grow
Water
Wet Mesic, Mesic, Dry Mesic, Dry
Sunlight
Full Sun to Partial Shade, Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day), Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)
Benefits
Attracts
Bees
Birds
Butterflies
Hummingbirds
Moths
Songbirds