Structure of the Honeysuckle Plant

Honeysuckle is famous for its fragrant flowers.

Honeysuckle is the common name for any one of the 180 species in the genus Lonicera, which is also home to favorite shrubs like weigela. There are over 100 cultivated species, either vining or shrubby in habit, with paired or whorled leaves and fragrant, somewhat trumpet-shaped flowers.

Vine Structure

Structure varies by species. The most popular and showy honeysuckles, like Lonicera fragrantissima, are vining types that can climb 30 feet or more. Paired, pointed leaves are characteristic and grow along the length of the stems. Sometimes, as with Lonicera x tellmanniana, stems will grow through the centers of individual leaves.

Flowers

The flowers are borne in pairs or clusters along the stems. Each flower has five petals that are fused at the bottom to form a long or short tube. Depending on the species and variety, the flowers can be white, yellow, pink, red or purple and are often scented.

Fruits

After pollination by insects or hummingbirds, the petals drop and the ovaries, with two to five seed-filled cells apiece, swell into fleshy berries that are bright red in some species.

References

• "The Botanical Garden, V I"; Roger Phillips and Martyn Rix; 2002