Leaf:  Opposite, simple; elliptic to oval, long pointed at the tip, rounded to subcordate at base, 5 to 7.5 cm long and 1.25 cm to 3.75 cm broad; margin entire (toothless); upper surface green, smooth, shiny, hairless (though sometimes fuzzy along the veins), with pinnate venation; lower surface lighter green, smooth; staying green long into winter.             

Flower:  Moderately showy in bloom; flowers borne upright in axillary pairs, 4 per node on the second year wood; flowering in May and June, each bloom lasting up to 2 weeks; each flower is 0.65 cm across and 2.5 cm long; with the 4 upper petal lobes fused together into an upper lip and a single petal forming a lower lip, 5 extended stamens, white changing to cream and faded yellow; fragrant.                     

Fruit:  Small, round, fleshy berries, borne in clusters; each berry up to 7 mm in diameter; green, turning red with age; ripening in September; persisting into winter.        

Twig:  Smooth, tan to grayish brown; leaf scars small and inconspicuous; buds small, gray, pubescent, pointed.                    

Bark:  Young bark smooth, light brown, becoming striated then lightly furrowed; older bark deeply fissured, sometimes peeling off in strips giving trunks a ropey texture.      

Form:  Perennial, arching shrub up to 4.5 m tall and 2.4 to 3 m wide; multi-trunked; sometimes vase-like with vertical branches rising from arched branches.                 
 

Discussion

The genus Lonicera is named after Adam Lonitzer, a 16th century German naturalist.  The species maackii is named after Richard Maack, a 19th century Russian naturalist.   Amur Honeysuckle is a non-native plant in North America, brought to North America from Manchuria and Korea in the late 19th century. 

The alien Amur honeysuckle has been very successful in temperate North America where it stays green long after the other shrubs and trees have lost their leaves, thus gaining a competitive advantage in regard to making and storing food.  This advantage helps Amur honeysuckle take over large sections of the shrub and understory layers in forests, crowding out native plants which help support a balanced ecosystem.  In central Illinois where the dominant forest trees are oaks and hickories, Amur honeysuckle can cause a substantial problem, as it shades the young oak and hickory seedlings and prevents them from getting a good start.  Since Amur honeysuckle grows its new leaves earlier in the spring than most native trees, it shades the forest floor, limiting the growth of early spring wildflowers that depend on the early spring sunshine.

Amur honeysuckle has had a documented effect on the populations of the American robin and the wood thrush.  The shrub looks like an attractive nesting site for these birds, but the nests aren't safe from predators.  The honeysuckle has no thorns, and its branches arch too close to the ground to offer much protection.

Amur honeysuckle has been promoted for a variety of uses:  as a border or screen, as farmstead windbreaks, to improve wildlife habitat, and as a popular landscape ornamental.  Governmental agencies and university cooperative extensions usually recommend that we do not plant Amur honeysuckle, and that we remove it from its existing locations by digging the shrub from the ground.  Suggested natives that make good substitutes include bottlebrush buckeye, painted buckeye, serviceberry, native honeysuckle, 

It is suspected that bush honeysuckle produces and allelopathic chemical that suppresses the growth of surrounding vegetation. 

Amur honeysuckle is available for purchase through many catalogues, nurseries, and online sources.  However, this is a plant that is causing so much disturbance in the ecosystem that the homeowner or landscaper should think twice about including it in the plan.  Amur honeysuckle has been used and overused in Illinois until it is evident in large populations along many roads and forest edges.  It grows from seed readily, and the seeds are dispersed far and wide by the birds that feed on the fruits.

Distinguishing Characteristics

Amur honeysuckle is a large multi-stemmed shrub whose branches are often arching.  The leaves are arranged opposite each other with no terminal leaf at the end of each branch.  The white flowers fade to yellow, and the shrub is covered with red berries in the fall.  Amur honeysuckle is the largest of the bush honeysuckles.

Distribution

Amur honeysuckle has been naturalized in midwestern and eastern United States, as well as Ontario, Canada.  since its introduction to the Dominion Arboretum in Ottawa, Canada, in 1896, and to the New York Botanical Garden in 1898.   Amur honeysuckle grows along forest edges, in disturbed understories, in abandoned fields and pastures, along roadsides, and in other open upland habitats, both urban and rural.

Images

Click each small picture to see a larger image. 

September, 2003 KW	September, 2003 KW	September, 2003 KW	October, 2003 KW MR	October, 2003  KW MR
October, 2003 KW MR	October, 2003 KW MR	October, 2003 KW MR

Location

N 39.26931°     W -89.89122°                  
Near west end of fitness trail at Loveless Park, South Locust Street, Carlinville, Macoupin County, IL.
The Amur honeysuckle is 27 paces from the end of the trail on the west side of the path.

Copyright

Photos © 2003 Kimberly Wagy and Miranda Reathaford, Carlinville High School, linke@carlinvilleschools.net       

References

University of Connecticut Plant Database of Trees and Vines
http://www.hort.uconn.edu/Plants/l/lonmaa/lonmaa1.html

Department of Horticulture and Crop Science, Ohio State University
http://hcs.osu.edu/hort/plantlisting/L/Lonicera14060.html

Web of Species, Wellesley College
http://www.wellesley.edu/Activities/homepage/web/Species/pbayberrybirch.html

Virginia Tech Department of Forestry
http://www.fw.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/syllabus/lmaackii.htm

Invasive Plants of the Eastern United States
http://www.invasive.org/weeds/usfsr8/BH.html

North Dakota State University, Department of Agriculture
http://www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/aginfo/trees/handbook/th-3-27.pdf

Ann F. Rhoads and Timothy A. Block, Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania 
http://www.paflora.org/Lonicera%20spp.pdf

Southeast Exotic Pest Plant Council, Invasive Plant Manual
http://www.se-eppc.org/manual/bushhoney.html

Virginia Tech, Department of Forestry
http://www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/syllabus/lmaackii.htm

Missouri Department of Conservation
http://www.conservation.state.mo.us/nathis/

Young, Chris. "Troublesome bush honeysuckle on the move," The State Journal-Register, Springfield, IL., November 15, 2003.

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