Honeysuckle History

Japanese honeysuckle was introduced from Japan and China from 1875 to 1897. Tartarian honeysuckle was imported from Russia to the U.S. during the 18th century. These vines were grown for their ornamental blooms. Japanese honeysuckle has escaped cultivation in the eastern and southeastern U.S. Tartarian honeysuckle has spread to the wild in the northeastern states.

Features

The honeysuckle family, Caprifoliaceae, includes vines and shrubs variously called honeysuckle. The plants have trumpet shaped flowers with five petals. Petals join at the base and form a thin tube. Most varieties bloom in yellow and white combinations. The widespread Japanese and Tartarian honeysuckles are invasive, but trumpet and woodbine honeysuckles are cultivated.

History in the United States

The Japanese variety was popular in urban parks from the 1950s to the 1970s. During the 1960s the USDA Soil Conservation Service encouraged landscapers to plant honeysuckle to control erosion. Eastern U.S. wildlife managers planted the vines as a food source for birds. Eastern states' forestry departments promoted honeysuckle; they planted it in public places, made it available at state horticultural sales, and detailed it in wildlife literature. Ecologists realized Japanese honeysuckle was invasive during the 1980s.

Invasive Honeysuckle

Invasive Japanese honeysuckle grows as much as 30 feet per year, which is much faster than the native plants it competes with. This Asian import engulfs woodlands, strangling plants and trees. It finds its way out of woodlands and into fields and pastures. The vines can overtake, weigh down and eventually destroy livestock containment fences. The last three decades have shown the U.S. that honeysuckle is hard to eradicate.

Beneficial Honeysuckle

Trumpet honeysuckle is grown for its bright red blooms, which draw hummingbirds. Southern gardeners enjoy the climber all year; it is evergreen in the milder winters. Woodbine honeysuckle's fragrant orange-red blooms earn it a place in eastern gardens. Its susceptibility to scale insect infestation make it unlikely to invade the wild. Twinflower, a creeping native honeysuckle, grows as far north as Alaska. It was named Linnaea borealis, after pioneer botanist Carolus Linnaeus, because of his fondness of its bloom.

Misconception

Swamp honeysuckle is a white blooming plant that brightens wetlands and bogs. Although its leaves, flowers and growth habit look like those of the honeysuckles, it is not a true Caprifoliaceae. It is actually Rhododendron viscosum, an Ericaceae.

References

• "National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers"; Willian A. Niering et al.;1979
• "Rodale's Successful Organic Gardening Trees, Shrubs and Vines"; Bonnie Lee Appleton and Alfred F. Scheider; 1993
• "Asian Bush Honeysuckle: An Exotic Invasive Threatening Indiana's Forests"; Ron Rathfon; 2006