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.
The Caprifoliaceae or honeysuckle family is a clade of dicotyledonous flowering plants consisting of about 860 species, in 33, to 42 genera, with a nearly cosmopolitan distribution. Centres of diversity are found in eastern North America and eastern Asia, while they are absent in tropical and southern Africa.
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.
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.
Diervilla, or bush honeysuckle, is a genus of three species of deciduous shrubs in the family Caprifoliaceae, all indigenous to eastern North America. The genus is named after a French surgeon Dr. Marin Diereville, who introduced the plant to Europe around 1700.
Berberis thunbergii, the Japanese barberry, Thunberg's barberry, or red barberry, is a species of flowering plant in the barberry family Berberidaceae, native to Japan and eastern Asia, though widely naturalized in China and North America, where it has become a problematic invasive in many places, leading to declines in species diversity, increased tick habitat, and soil changes. Growing to 1 m tall by 2.5 m broad, it is a small deciduous shrub with green leaves turning red in the autumn, brilliant red fruits in autumn and pale yellow flowers in spring.
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.
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.
Lonicera sempervirens is a flowering plant species of honeysuckle vine native to the eastern United States which is known for its reddish flowers.
Viburnum nudum is a deciduous shrub in the genus Viburnum within the muskroot family, Adoxaceae.
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.
Lonicera canadensis is a flowering deciduous, perennial, phanerophytic shrub which is monoclinous and grows 1–2 m tall. It typically flowers from the last week of April until the third or fourth week of May. Fruit appears approximately the first week of June until the first week of August. The fruit is fed upon by a variety of avian frugivores including the American Robin and Northern Cardinal.
Symphoricarpos albus is a species of flowering plant in the honeysuckle family known by the common name common snowberry. Native to North America, it is browsed by some animals and planted for ornamental and ecological purposes, but is poisonous to humans.
Borodinia perstellata, commonly known as Braun's rockcress and Nevada rockcress, is a rare species of flowering plant in the mustard family. It is native to Kentucky and Tennessee, where it is known from perhaps 25 total populations. Most of the occurrences have few individuals, and all are deteriorating in quality. The plant grows in shady forest habitat on limestone substrates, usually near streams or rivers. This is a federally listed endangered species of the United States.
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.
Lonicera fragrantissima is a species of flowering plant in the honeysuckle family Caprifoliaceae, known by the common names winter-flowering honeysuckle, fragrant honeysuckle, kiss-me-at-the-gate, and sweet breath of spring. It is native to China and has been an introduced species to other parts of the world. It was brought to the attention of western gardeners by Scottish plant hunter Robert Fortune, who was plant hunting in China for the Royal Horticultural Society. Fortune introduced Lonicera fragrantissima to England in 1845, and a few years later it was introduced to the United States. In 1853 the editor of American gardening magazine The Horticulturist wrote that the previous year he had been sent a specimen from a plant that had been flowering in the gardens of Hatfield House, the Marquess of Salisbury's stately home in Hertfordshire. The first mention of a specimen for commercial sale in an American plant catalogue is in 1860.
Lonicera caprifolium, the Italian woodbine, perfoliate honeysuckle, goat-leaf honeysuckle, Italian honeysuckle, or perfoliate woodbine, is a species of perennial flowering plants in the genus Lonicera of the family Caprifoliaceae. It is native to parts of Europe, and naturalised in South East Britain and northeastern North America. It can readily be distinguished from Europe's most common species, Lonicera periclymenum, by its topmost leaves, which are perfoliate as the Latin name suggests. It is a vigorous, deciduous climber growing up to 8 metres. It bears masses of very fragrant, cream-coloured flowers, tinged with pink, appearing in midsummer.
Viburnum dilatatum, commonly known as linden arrowwood or linden viburnum, is a deciduous shrub in the moschatel family (Adoxaceae). It is native to eastern Asia, and can be found as an introduced plant in the mid-Atlantic regions in the U.S from New York to Virginia. Linden arrowwood is known for the clusters of red drupes it produces when it is mature.
Lonicera × bella, known as Bell's honeysuckle and showy fly honeysuckle, is a hybrid species of flowering plant in the family Caprifoliaceae. It was first described by Hermann Zabel in 1889. Zabel reported that he grew it in cultivation from seeds obtained from a plant of Lonicera morrowii, but that its appearance suggested the influence of L. tatarica. It has escaped from cultivation and become an aggressive invasive species in central and eastern parts of the United States.
