Lonicera caerulea

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Lonicera caerulea
Lonicera coerulea a3.jpg
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. caerulea
Binomial name
Lonicera caerulea
L.
Synonyms [1]
  • Caprifolium caeruleum(L.) Lam.
  • Euchylia caerulea(L.) Dulac
  • Isika coerulea(L.) Medik.
  • Xylosteon caeruleum(L.) Dum.Cours.

Lonicera caerulea, also known by its common names blue honeysuckle, [2] sweetberry honeysuckle, [3] fly honeysuckle [3] (blue fly honeysuckle [4] ), blue-berried honeysuckle, [2] [5] or the honeyberry, [2] [3] is a non-climbing honeysuckle native throughout the cool temperate Northern Hemisphere regions of North America, Europe, and Asia. [6]

Contents

The plant or its fruit has also come to be called haskap, derived from its name in the language of the native Ainu people of Hokkaido, Japan. [2]

Description

Haskap is a deciduous shrub growing to 1.5–2 m (4 ft 11 in – 6 ft 7 in) tall. The leaves are opposite, oval, 3–8 cm (1.2–3.1 in) long and 1–3 cm (0.39–1.18 in) broad, greyish green, with a slightly waxy texture. The flowers are yellowish-white, 12–16 mm long, with five equal lobes; they are produced in pairs on the shoots. The fruit is an edible, blue berry, somewhat cylindrical in shape weighing 1.3 to 2.2 grams (0.046 to 0.078 oz), and about 1 cm (0.39 in) in diameter. [7]

The plant is winter-hardy and can tolerate temperatures below −47 °C (−53 °F). [8] Its flowers are frost-tolerant. Fruits mature early and are high in vitamin C. [9]

Haskap cultivars can survive a large range of soil acidity from 3.9-7.7 (optimum 5.5-6.5), requiring high organic matter, well drained soils, and plentiful sunlight for optimum productivity. Lonicera caerulea plants are more tolerant of wet conditions than most fruit species. [8] [10]

Distribution and habitat

The species is circumpolar, primarily found in or near wetlands of boreal forests in heavy peat soils of North America, Europe, and Asia. [6] [11] It also can be found in high-calcium soils, in mountains, and along the coasts of northeastern Asia and northwestern North America. [8]

Different varieties are distributed across central and northern Canada, northern United States, northern and eastern Europe, Siberia, middle Asia, and northeastern China. [6]

Classification

Haskap berry diversity LoniceraBerryDiversity.JPG
Haskap berry diversity
Haskap berries and leaves Haskap berries.jpg
Haskap berries and leaves

The classification within the species is not settled. One classification uses nine botanical varieties: [6]

Cultivated varieties

Improved cultivars include:

According to research at the University of Saskatchewan, each variety can be distinguished by the size of berries, taste, and bush dimensions. [7]

Common names

Lonicera caerulea is known by several common names: [8]

Cultivation

Haskap products on retail display in a Japanese market HaskapProducts1.JPG
Haskap products on retail display in a Japanese market

The indigenous peoples of eastern Russia, northern Japan and northern China have long harvested the wild berries, but cultivation efforts are relatively recent, beginning in the Soviet Union in the 1950s. Research into commercial cultivation continued in Hokkaido, Japan in the 1970s. The plant is mostly unknown in the Western world, [9] even while some varieties grow in northern Canada and northern United States. Haskap variety edulis has been used frequently in breeding efforts, but other varieties have been bred with it to increase productivity and flavor. In several haskap breeding programs, the variety emphyllocalyx has been the dominant one used. [8] In recent years, a new programme has aimed at growing honeyberries commercially in Scotland (with a similar climate to Japan) at farms in Duns, Angus, Tayside, Perth and Fife. [12]

Disease

This plant is not affected by many pests and diseases. [9] Powdery mildew is one disease documented to affect Lonicera caerulea, usually after fruit maturity in mid– to late summer. [8] When the plant is affected, it is common for the leaves to turn white, with brown patches eventually developing. [8]

Harvest and uses

Honeysuckle is harvested in late spring or early summer two weeks before strawberries for Russian type varieties, with Japanese types ripening at a similar time to strawberries. [8] The berries are ready to harvest when the inner layer is dark purple or blue. The outer layer is dark blue and looks ripened, but the inner layer may be green with a sour flavor. [8] [11] Two compatible varieties are needed for cross pollination and fruit set. In North America, most Russian varieties are adapted to hardiness zones 1 to 4. The plants may take three or four years to produce an abundant harvest. [8] Average production on a good bush is about 3 kilograms (6.6 lb), and bushes can maintain productivity for 30 years. [8]

Honeysuckle can be used in various processed products, such as pastries, jams, juice, ice cream, yogurt, sauces, candies and a wine similar in color and flavor to red grape or cherry wine. [8] [11] [13]

Phytochemicals

As a blue pigmented fruit, Lonicera caerulea contains polyphenol compounds, including cyanidin 3-glucoside, cyanidin 3-rutinoside, peonidin 3-glucoside, [14] [15] proanthocyanidins and organic acids, including citric acid. [16]

Traditional medicine

Over centuries in East Asian countries, Lonicera caerulea has been used for supposed therapeutic applications in traditional medicine. [17]

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>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 East 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.

Honeyberry or honey berry is a common name for the edible fruits of several plants and may refer to:

<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>Passiflora caerulea</i> Species of flowering plant in the passion flower family Passifloraceae

Passiflora caerulea, the blue passionflower, bluecrown passionflower or common passion flower, is a species of flowering plant native to South America. It has been introduced elsewhere. It is a vigorous, deciduous or semi-evergreen tendril vine growing to 10 m (33 ft) or more. Its leaves are palmate, and its fragrant flowers are blue-white with a prominent fringe of coronal filaments in bands of blue, white, yellow, and brown. The ovoid orange fruit, growing to 6 cm (2 in), is edible, but is variously described as having a bland, undesirable, or insipid taste. In South America, the plant is known for its medicinal properties, and is used by both the Toba and the Maka peoples.

<i>Nymphaea nouchali <span style="font-style:normal;">var.</span> caerulea</i> Species of plant

Nymphaea nouchali var. caerulea, is a water lily in the genus Nymphaea, a botanical variety of Nymphaea nouchali.

<i>Vaccinium corymbosum</i> Species of plant

Vaccinium corymbosum, the northern highbush blueberry, is a North American species of blueberry which has become a food crop of significant economic importance. It is native to eastern Canada and the eastern and southern United States, from Ontario east to Nova Scotia and south as far as Florida and eastern Texas. It is also naturalized in other places: Europe, Japan, New Zealand, the Pacific Northwest of North America, etc. Other common names include blue huckleberry, tall huckleberry, swamp huckleberry, high blueberry, and swamp blueberry.

<i>Actinidia arguta</i> Species of plant

Actinidia arguta, the hardy kiwi, is a perennial vine native to Japan, Korea, Northern China, and the Russian Far East. It produces a small kiwifruit without the hair-like fiber covering the outside, unlike most other species of the genus.

<i>Dianella</i> (plant) Genus of flowering plants

Dianella is a genus of about forty species of flowering plants in the monocot family Asphodelaceae, commonly known as flax lilies. Plants in this genus are tufted herbs with more or less linear leaves and bisexual flowers with three sepals more or less similar to three petals and a superior ovary, the fruit a berry. They occur in Africa, South-east Asia, the Pacific Islands, New Zealand and Australia.

<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>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>Dianella caerulea</i> Species of flowering plant

Dianella caerulea, commonly known as the blue flax-lily, blueberry lily, or paroo lily, is a perennial herb of the family Asphodelaceae, subfamily Hemerocallidoideae, found across the eastern states of Australia and Tasmania. It is a hardy plant, growing to a height and width of around 1 meter with grass-like strappy leaves. Blue flowers in spring and summer are followed by indigo-coloured berries. It adapts readily to cultivation and is commonly seen in Australian gardens and amenities plantings.

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

Lonicera sempervirens is a flowering plant species of honeysuckle vine native to the eastern United States which is known for its reddish flowers.

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

Amelanchier sanguinea, known as red-twigged shadbush or roundleaf serviceberry, is a shrub native to eastern and central North America. Its native range stretches from New Brunswick to Saskatchewan south as far as northern Georgia. It is most common in eastern Canada, the northeastern United States, and the Great Lakes region.

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

Lonicera subspicata is a species of honeysuckle known by the common name southern honeysuckle. It is native to Baja California, California, and northern Baja California Sur, 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.

<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 nitida</i> Species of shrub

Lonicera nitida is a species of flowering plant in the honeysuckle family. In English, it is sometimes given the common names box honeysuckle or Wilson's honeysuckle. It is widely used as a low hedging plant, and for topiary. It is also a popular low-maintenance ground cover plant for urban landscaping.

<i>Diervilla lonicera</i> Species of flowering plant

Diervilla lonicera, commonly referred to as northern bush honeysuckle, low bush honeysuckle, dwarf bush honeysuckle, or yellow-flowered upright honeysuckle, is a deciduous shrub native to the northeastern United States and Canada. Its specific epithet, lonicera refers to its similarity in appearance to the true honeysuckles, genus Lonicera. It attracts bumblebees and is an important source of nectar for them.

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

Lonicera villosa, also known as mountain fly honeysuckle, is a species of honeysuckle native to North America.

References

  1. ↑ The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species; Family Caprifoliaceae, Genus Lonicera by Species, The Plant List, Version 1, Royal Botanic Garden-Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden, 2010, retrieved 18 May 2016
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Small, Ernest, ed. (2013). North American Cornucopia: Top 100 Indigenous Food Plants. CRC Press. p. 135. ISBN   978-14-66585-94-2.
  3. 1 2 3 USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Lonicera caerulea". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  4. ↑ Lahring, Heinjo, ed. (2003). Water and Wetland Plants of the Prairie Provinces. University of Regina. Canadian Plains Research Center. University of Regina Press. p. 168. ISBN   978-08-89771-62-8.
  5. ↑ BSBI List 2007 (xls). Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
  6. 1 2 3 4 USDA GRIN Taxonomy , retrieved 18 May 2016
  7. 1 2 University of Saskatchewan (2007). "Haskap: University of Saskatchewan Fruit Program" . Retrieved 25 November 2016.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Haskap". University of Saskatchewan, Department of Plant Sciences. 2021. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
  9. 1 2 3 The Encyclopedia of Fruit & Nuts. CABI. 2008. p. 232.
  10. ↑ Janick, J.; Paull, R.E. (2008). The Encyclopedia of Fruit & Nuts. CABI. p. 232. ISBN   9780851996387.
  11. 1 2 3 "Honeyberry". London, UK: The Royal Horticultural Society. 2016.
  12. ↑ "Interest grows in Scottish-grown Japanese 'superberry'". The Scottish Farmer. 19 August 2023. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
  13. ↑ Reimer, Peter (2007). "Haskap wines at the University of Saskatchewan fruit program" (PDF). Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  14. ↑ Celli, G. B.; Khattab, R; Ghanem, A; Brooks, M. S. (2016). "Refractance Window™ drying of haskap berry--preliminary results on anthocyanin retention and physicochemical properties". Food Chemistry. 194: 218–21. doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2015.08.012. PMID   26471547.
  15. ↑ Zenovia O, Lacramioara O, Elena T, Maria-Magdalena Z (2013). "Variability of anthocyanin content and dry matter amount in fruits of some lonicera caerulea selections depending on storage conditions". Analele Ştiinţifice Ale Universităţii Alexandru Ioan Cuza Din Iași, Sectiunea II A: Genetica Si Biologie Moleculara. 14 (4): 7–12.
  16. ↑ Caprioli, G; Iannarelli, R; Innocenti, M; et al. (2016). "Blue honeysuckle fruit (Lonicera caerulea L.) from eastern Russia: Phenolic composition, nutritional value and biological activities of its polar extracts". Food Funct. 7 (4): 1892–903. doi:10.1039/c6fo00203j. hdl: 2158/1088398 . PMID   27040352.
  17. ↑ Kaczmarska E, Gawronski J, Dyduch-Sieminska M, Najda A, Marecki W, Zebrowska J (2015). "Genetic diversity and chemical characterization of selected Polish and Russian cultivars and clones of blue honeysuckle (Lonicera caerulea)". Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry. 39: 394–402. doi: 10.3906/tar-1404-149 .
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