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Invasive Species Identification Sheet
Non-Native, Invasive Shrub Honeysuckles of the Northeastern U.S.
- mature twigs have a hollow core (L. maackii
is hollow except at the leaf nodes)
- Amur Honeysuckle .....................................
Lonicera maackii (Rupr.) Maxim.
- Belle Honeysuckle .......................................
Lonicera X
bella Zabel
- European Fly-honeysuckle ........................
Lonicera xylosteum L.
- Morrow’s Honeysuckle ..............................
Lonicera morrowii Gray
- Tatarian Honeysuckle ................................
Lonicera tatarica L.
- shrub (L. maackii also can be a
shrubby tree); with twigs/branches with hollow centers
- leaves opposite, with untoothed margins; upper pair of leaves never joined
to each other
- papery scales surround twig where current year’s growth begins (use hand
lens to see detail)
- when a leaf is removed, there are 3 dots on the twig inside the leaf scar
(use good hand lens)
- there are lines across the twig where the pairs of leaves are (or were)
attached
- species flower color varies; includes white, pink, (red, purplish) with
some aging to yellow
- flowers 3/8"– 1" long; 5 flower petals are joined at their bases into a
nectar-containing tube
- species vary in the pattern and the length that individual petal lobes are
fused
- flower stems come out of the leaf axils (come from the same points on the
stem as the leaves)
- each leaf axil with flowers has a pair of flowers at the tip of a single
flower stalk
- berries usually red; can be yellow or orange or clear, but never blue,
black, or white
- if all flowers produce fruit, the branchlet can appear to have berries in
groups of 4 (2 groups of 2 flowers each for every pair of leaves
- non-native honeysuckles tend to leaf out earlier than most native shrubs
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