Lonicera sempervirens

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Lonicera sempervirens
Lonicera sempervirens 2.jpg
Status TNC G5.svg
Secure  (NatureServe) [1]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Dipsacales
Family: Caprifoliaceae
Genus: Lonicera
Species:
L. sempervirens
Binomial name
Lonicera sempervirens
L.

Lonicera sempervirens (commonly known as coral honeysuckle, trumpet honeysuckle, or scarlet honeysuckle) is a flowering plant species of honeysuckle vine native to the eastern United States which is known for its reddish flowers. [2] [3]

Contents

Description

Lonicera sempervirens is best recognized by trumpet-shaped and coral to reddish flowers. The leaves and stems are waxy, a common trait in the honeysuckle genus.[ citation needed ] It is a twining vine growing to 20 ft or more through shrubs and young trees. The leaves are produced in opposite pairs, oval, up to 5 cm long and 4 cm broad; the leaves immediately below the flowers are perfoliate, joined at the base in a complete ring round the shoot. When born, their flowers are whorled on the end. [4] They are present with red berries on them that are less than 1 cm width and length. [5] The berries are inedible and grow from summer to fall. [5] Their leaves are somewhat evergreen. [6] The species is also flammable, which leads to it not being recommended for being planted close to residences. [5] The flowers are produced on new growth in clusters of several groups of three together, tubular, 5 cm long, with five small lobes opening at the tip to expose the stamens and stigma. The bark is green and fuzzy when younger but becomes a light brown as it ages. [5] The older stems get more of a red-orange color. [4]

Distribution

Lonicera sempervirens is most common in eastern North America, but has occurred as far west as Texas. [2] It is found prominently in the southeastern United States. [2] It is listed as endangered in Maine, the only state in which it has any legal status. [2] Although introduced in parts of New England, populations of L. sempervirens have been found that seem to be growing natively in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. [7] It is considered extremely rare in Rhode Island. [7] Lonicera sempervirens is most common in coastal habitats. [5]

Taxonomy

Lonicera sempervirens was first described by Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in his treatise Species Plantarum in 1753. Varieties of L. sempervirens are Lonicera sempervirens L. var. hirsutula Rehder, Lonicera sempervirens L. var. minor Aiton, and Lonicera sempervirens L. var. sempervirens. Phenianthus sempervirens (L.) Raf is a synonym. [2] Hybrids of the species include Lonicera × tellmanniana and Lonicera × heckrottii . [8] [9]

Uses

Lonicera sempervirens is often used as an alternative to the invasive Lonicera japonica across the east coast of North America. [2] It is popular to grow in gardens or recreational areas as it is considered low maintenance. [5] It is also used to attract hummingbirds and butterflies for pollinator gardens. [5] [10] The species is mainly used ornamentally on fences or lattices, and for the attractive red color of its flowers. [10] . It can be propagated by either stem cutting or by seed, [5] and has been used to treat asthma and bee stings in Native American traditions. [10] [11] There are a few different cultivars including: 'Magnifica' which blooms later and is more floriferous, 'Sulphurea' with sulfur-yellow flowers, and 'Superba' - another floriferous selection with bright red flowers. [12]

Lonicera sempervirens can grow in many areas due to its cold hardiness, [13] being winter hardy in USDA zones 5-9. [14] It prefers sunny and moist areas but is also drought resistant. [15] Coral honeysuckle can live in clay or loam soils that have good drainage, and it prefers acidic soil with a pH of 6. [5] It can grow in full sun or in fully shaded areas, [10] and deer prefer not to browse on it and it tolerates growing around walnuts. [11]

Wildlife uses

Lonicera sempervirens is used by many animals for food, most commonly used for nectar by butterflies and hummingbirds. It attracts bees, hummingbirds, moths, and even songbirds. [5] Birds such as quail, purple finch, and American robin eat the red berries. [11] Ruby-throated hummingbirds and insects pollinate the bright red to pinkish-red flowers from mid-spring to fall. [16] [17] It hosts the caterpillars of spring azures and snowberry clearwing moths. [18] Lonicera sempervirens is used moderately for animal cover and has a relatively low nutritional value. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Honeysuckle</span> Genus of flowering plants

Honeysuckles are arching shrubs or twining vines in the genus Lonicera of the family Caprifoliaceae, native to northern latitudes in North America and Eurasia. Approximately 180 species of honeysuckle have been identified in both continents. Widely known species include Lonicera periclymenum, Lonicera japonica and Lonicera sempervirens. L. japonica is a highly invasive species considered a significant pest in parts of North America, Europe, South America, Australia, and Africa.

<i>Lonicera morrowii</i> Species of honeysuckle

Lonicera morrowii, the Morrow's honeysuckle, is a deciduous honeysuckle in the family Caprifoliaceae, native to Japan, Korea, and Northeast China. It is a shrub, reaching a height of 2–2.5 m, with oblong leaves 4–6 cm long. It leafs out quite early in the spring, and in North America is commonly the first deciduous shrub with foliage in March. The flowers are white to pale yellow, and the fruit is a dark red berry 7–8 mm diameter containing numerous seeds. The berries, while eaten frequently by birds, are considered poisonous to humans. It is colloquially called "bush honeysuckle" in the United States, and is considered an invasive species.

<i>Campsis radicans</i> Species of vine

Campsis radicans, the trumpet vine, yellow trumpet vine, or trumpet creeper, is a species of flowering plant in the trumpet vine family Bignoniaceae, native to eastern North America, and naturalized elsewhere. Growing to 10 metres, it is a vigorous, deciduous woody vine, notable for its showy trumpet-shaped flowers. It inhabits woodlands and riverbanks, and is also a popular garden plant.

<i>Lonicera japonica</i> Flowering shrub known as Japanese honeysuckle

Lonicera japonica, known as Japanese honeysuckle and golden-and-silver honeysuckle, is a species of honeysuckle native to eastern Asia, including many parts of China. It is often grown as an ornamental plant, but has become an invasive species in a number of countries. Japanese honeysuckle is used in traditional Chinese medicine.

<i>Lonicera etrusca</i> Species of honeysuckle

Lonicera etrusca is a species of honeysuckle known by the common name Etruscan honeysuckle. It is native to Southern Europe, Western Asia and North Africa and it is known elsewhere, including the Pacific Northwest of North America, as an introduced species where it has escaped cultivation. It is kept in gardens as an ornamental plant.

<i>Gelsemium sempervirens</i> Species of plant

Gelsemium sempervirens is a twining vine in the family Gelsemiaceae, native to subtropical and tropical America: Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, Mexico, and southeastern and south-central United States. It has a number of common names including yellow jessamine or confederate jessamine or jasmine, Carolina jasmine or jessamine, evening trumpetflower, gelsemium and woodbine.

<i>Lonicera periclymenum</i> Species of plant

Lonicera periclymenum, common names honeysuckle, common honeysuckle, European honeysuckle, or woodbine, is a species of flowering plant in the family Caprifoliaceae native to much of Europe, North Africa, Turkey and the Caucasus. It is found as far north as southern Norway, Sweden and Finland.

<i>Lonicera caerulea</i> Honeysuckle plant

Lonicera caerulea, also known by its common names blue honeysuckle, sweetberry honeysuckle, fly honeysuckle, blue-berried honeysuckle, or the honeyberry, is a non-climbing honeysuckle native throughout the cool temperate Northern Hemisphere regions of North America, Europe, and Asia.

<i>Lonicera involucrata</i> Species of honeysuckle

Lonicera involucrata, the bearberry honeysuckle, bracted honeysuckle, twinberry honeysuckle, Californian Honeysuckle, twin-berry, or black twinberry, is a species of honeysuckle native to northern and western North America.

<i>Amelanchier canadensis</i> Species of tree

Amelanchier canadensis is a species of Amelanchier native to eastern North America in Canada from Newfoundland west to southern Ontario, and in the United States from Maine south to Alabama. It is largely restricted to wet sites, particularly on the Atlantic coastal plain, growing at altitudes from sea level up to 200 m.

<i>Lonicera maackii</i> Species of plant in the family Caprifoliaceae native to western Asia

Lonicera maackii, the Amur honeysuckle, is a species of honeysuckle in the family Caprifoliaceae that is native to temperate eastern Asia; specifically in northern and western China south to Yunnan, Mongolia, Primorsky Krai in southeastern Siberia, Korea, and, albeit rare there, central and northern Honshū, Japan.

<i>Lonicera hispidula</i> Species of vine

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 or vine found on the West Coast of North America.

<i>Lonicera ciliosa</i> Species of honeysuckle

Lonicera ciliosa, the orange honeysuckle or western trumpet honeysuckle is a honeysuckle native to forests of western North America. A deciduous shrub growing to 6 m (20 ft) tall with hollow twigs, the leaves are opposite, oval, 4–10 cm (1.6–3.9 in) long with the last pair on each twig merged to form a disk. The flowers are orange-yellow, 2–4 cm (0.79–1.57 in) long, with five lobes and trumpet shaped; they are produced in whorls above the disk-leaf on the ends of shoots. The fruit is a translucent orange-red berry less than 1 cm (0.39 in) diameter.

<i>Viburnum nudum</i> Species of shrub

Viburnum nudum is a deciduous shrub in the genus Viburnum within the muskroot family, Adoxaceae.

<i>Sambucus racemosa</i> Species of plant

Sambucus racemosa is a species of elderberry known by the common names red elderberry and red-berried elder.

<i>Ribes aureum</i> Species of plant

Ribes aureum, known by the common names golden currant, clove currant, pruterberry and buffalo currant, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Ribes native to North America.

<i>Symphoricarpos orbiculatus</i> Species of flowering plant

Symphoricarpos orbiculatus, commonly called coralberry, buckbrush or Indian currant is a woody species of flowering plant in the honeysuckle family.

<i>Lonicera tatarica</i> Species of honeysuckle

Lonicera tatarica is a species of honeysuckle known by the common name Tatarian honeysuckle. Native to Eurasia, the plant is one of several exotic bush honeysuckles present in North America, being considered an invasive species there.

<i>Lonicera flava</i> Species of honeysuckle native to the eastern United States

Lonicera flava is a species of honeysuckle native to the central and eastern United States. It is a woody vine with yellow-orange flowers that are slightly fragrant.

<i>Lonicera acuminata</i> Species of vine

Lonicera acuminata, commonly known as fragrant grove honeysuckle or vine honeysuckle, is a plant species of honeysuckle native to China to Southeast Asia and India.

References

  1. NatureServe (5 January 2024). "Lonicera sempervirens". NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data accessed through NatureServe Explorer. Arlington, Virginia: NatureServe. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Lonicera sempervirens". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team.
  3. "Lonicera sempervirens". County-level distribution map from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2014.
  4. 1 2 "Featured Native Plant: Trumpet Honeysuckle | Urban Forest Initiative". ufi.ca.uky.edu. Retrieved 2020-11-03.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Lonicera sempervirens". plants.ces.ncsu.edu. Retrieved 2017-06-30.
  6. Radford, Albert E. (1968). Manual of the vascular flora of the Carolinas. Ahles, Harry E., Bell, C. Ritchie. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN   0-8078-1087-8. OCLC   355003.
  7. 1 2 "Lonicera sempervirens (trumpet honeysuckle): Go Botany". gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org. Retrieved 2020-11-03.
  8. "Lonicera sempervirens | International Plant Names Index". www.ipni.org. Retrieved 2020-11-03.
  9. "Lonicera sempervirens L. — The Plant List". www.theplantlist.org. Retrieved 2020-11-03.
  10. 1 2 3 4 "Plant Database". hort.uconn.edu. Retrieved 2020-11-02.
  11. 1 2 3 "Wildflower of the Year 2014 Coral honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens)". Virginia Native Plant Society. Retrieved 2020-11-02.
  12. Flint, Harrison L. (1997-04-09). Landscape Plants for Eastern North America: Exclusive of Florida and the Immediate Gulf Coast. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN   978-0-471-59919-7.
  13. Gilman, Edward F. (2015-08-14). "Lonicera sempervirens Trumpet Honeysuckle". edis.ifas.ufl.edu. Retrieved 2017-06-30.
  14. Kellum, Jo (2008). Southern Sun: A Plant Selection Guide. Univ. Press of Mississippi. ISBN   978-1-934110-45-4.
  15. "trumpet honeysuckle: Lonicera sempervirens (Dipsacales: Caprifoliaceae): Invasive Plant Atlas of the United States". www.invasiveplantatlas.org. Retrieved 2020-10-26.
  16. Tenaglia, Dan. "Lonicera sempervirens page". Missouri Plants. Missouri Botanical Garden.
  17. Operation Rubythroat "Top Ten" Native Hummingbird Plants: Lonicera sempervirens
  18. "Lonicera Sempervirens". wildflower.org. Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center. Retrieved 26 April 2020.