Adirondack Invasives: Honeysuckle

Trumpet honeysuckle (L. sempervirens) 
is a native plant
DID YOU KNOW?

Native Adirondack honeysuckle to look for are:
American fly-honeysuckle (Lonicera canadensis) and Limber honeysuckle (Lonicera dioica) and Northern bush-honeysuckle (Diervilla lonicera),

Wetland area honeysuckles: Mountain fly-honeysuckle (L. villosa) and Swamp fly-honeysuckle (L. oblongifolia)

Native vines: Trumpet honeysuckle (L. sempervirens) and Hairy honeysuckle (L. hirsuta)

How to tell the difference?
Invasive honeysuckle have hollow stems while the Adirondack natives have solid stems.
Non-native are larger and more vigorous than the Adirondack honeysuckles.


Japanese honeysuckle: an invasive
The four main species of Adirondack invasives are:
Morrow’s honeysuckle (Lonicera morrowii), Tatarian honeysuckle (Lonicera tatarica), Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii), and Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica)

Where to find them: All have a similar range of habitats such as pastures, abandoned fields,  edges of woodlots, floodplains or edges of lawns and gardens.


What does it look like? 

L. morrowii, L. tatarica, and L. maackii), are perennial shrubs; L. japonica is a perennial woody vine (although its leaves can remain green throughout mild winters). The shrub forms range from 6 to 15 feet in height, while vines can reach 30 feet in length. The egg-shaped leaves range from 1 to 3 inches in length and are arranged oppositely along stems.

Flowers:
Invasive honeysuckles begin flowering from May to June and bear small (less than 1 inch long), very fragrant tubular flowers ranging from creamy white through various shades of pink to crimson.

Fruit:
L. morrowii and L. tatarica produce ¼ inch red berries from mid-summer through early-fall; L. maackii’s dark-red berries don’t ripen until late-fall; L. japonica
© Diane Chase is the author of the Adirondack Family Activities™ guidebook series, Adirondack Family Time™, which is available online or bookstores/museums/sporting good stores. Diane is currently working on the third guidebook in the four-book series of Adirondack  Family Activities™


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