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Honeysuckle

Genus of flowering plants

  • 7 min read
  • 5 chapters
Lonicera caprifolium
Meneerke bloem · CC BY-SA 3.0

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Widely known species include Lonicera periclymenum (common honeysuckle or woodbine), Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle, white honeysuckle, jinyinhua in Chinese), Lonicera tragophylla (Chinese honeysuckle), and Lonicera sempervirens (coral honeysuckle, trumpet honeysuckle, or woodbine honeysuckle). L. japonica is an aggressive generalist species. Introduced globally from Asia in the early 1800s, it has become an invasive species in parts of North America, Europe, South America, New Zealand, Australia, and Africa.

Some species are highly fragrant and colorful, so are cultivated as ornamental garden plants. In North America, hummingbirds are attracted to the flowers, especially L. sempervirens and L. ciliosa (orange honeysuckle). Honeysuckle derives its name from the edible sweet nectar obtainable from its tubular flowers. The name Lonicera stems from Adam Lonicer, a Renaissance botanist.

Description

Most species of Lonicera are hardy twining climbers, with a minority of shrubby habit. Some species (including Lonicera hildebrandiana from the Himalayan foothills and L. etrusca from the Mediterranean) are tender and can be grown outside only in subtropical zones. The leaves are opposite, simple oval, 1–10 cm (0.39–3.94 in) long; most are deciduous but some are evergreen.

Many of the species have sweetly scented, bilaterally symmetrical flowers that produce a sweet, edible nectar, and most flowers are borne in clusters of two (leading to the common name of "twinberry" for certain North American species). Both shrubby and vining sorts have strongly fibrous stems which have been used for binding and textiles.

The fruit is a red, blue or black spherical or elongated berry containing several seeds; in most species the berries are mildly poisonous, but in a few (notably Lonicera caerulea) they are edible and grown for home use and commerce. Most honeysuckle berries are attractive to wildlife, which has led to species such as L. japonica and L. maackii spreading invasively outside of their home ranges. Many species of Lonicera are eaten by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species—see a list of Lepidoptera that feed on honeysuckles.

Invasive species

The spread of L. japonica in North America began in 1806, and it was widely cultivated by the 1860s, including in Canada and in Massachusetts. It was first discovered in the wild of Ontario forests in 1976, and became invasive by 2007. L. japonica was introduced in Australia between 1820 and 1840.

Several species of honeysuckle have become invasive when introduced outside their native range, particularly in North America, Europe, South America, Australia, and Africa. Invasive species include L. japonica, L. maackii, L. morrowii, L. tatarica, and the hybrid between the last two, L. × bella. As of 2026, honeysuckles occur in Canada from Alberta eastward to Ontario, Quebec, and Atlantic Canada, and in some 25 American states.

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