Japanese honeysuckle
Family
CaprifoliaceaeScientific Name
Lonicera japonica
Other Common Names:
Chinese honeysuckle
Synonyms (former Scientific Names):
Nintooa japonica
Habit
Evergreen or semi-evergreen woody vine that sprouts from woody rhizomes and persistent brown vines in the spring. Plants are an exotic invasive species that overwhelms native flora in many sites.
Leaves
Leaves have smooth margins, predominately, but some young leaves are lobed. Oblong shaped leaves are usually 4 to 6.5 cm long and 2 to 3.5 cm wide. They may have rounded tips but are usually pointed, and are smooth to hairy with hairy on both surfaces. Opposite, simple, ovate to oval, entire margin, sometimes lobed, semi-evergreen to light green.
Identifying Characteristics
Vine with stems that root at the nodes. Older stems are light tan and may be scaly. The sweet smell of Japanese Honeysuckle is one of its most distinguishing characteristics.
Flower Seed Head
Flowers have two main lips that comprise five lobes at the end of a slender tube (2 to 3 cm long). Flowers are white, light yellow, or pink and are subtended by two small leaves (bracts). Flowers are produced from April to June in most locations.
Seed Fruit
Black glossy berries are produced from August to March. Berries are spherical or nearly so and about 6 mm in diameter and borne on stalks 1 to 3 cm long.
Where Found
Occurs as dense infestations along highway rights-of-ways and forest edges. Common along fence rows, ditches, and low lying forest areas. May completely crowd out native vegetation.
Growth Habit
vine
Thorns or Spines
not present
Approximate Flower Diameter
Varies:
pencil,
dime
Dominant Flower Color
Varies:
white,
yellow
Flower Symmetry
not symmetrical
Leaf Hairs
Varies:
has hairs,
no hairs
Leaf Shape
spatulate
Leaf Arrangement
opposite
Leaf Margin
entire
Leaf Structure
simple
Leaf Stalk
Varies:
none,
shorter than leaf
Stem Hairs
has hairs
Stem Cross Section
round or oval
Milky Sap
not present
Root Structure
fibrous
Life Cycle
perennial
Ochrea
not present
Plant Type
Vine