Honeysuckles are arching shrubs or twining vines in the genus Lonicera () of the family Caprifoliaceae. The genus includes 158 species native to northern latitudes in North America, Eurasia, and North Africa.
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
Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica)
Wild honeysuckle buds in New York
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...
