Common Name: Utah honeysuckle

Duration: Perennial

Nativity: Native

Lifeform: Shrub

General: Deciduous erect to ascending shrub, 0.5-2 m (1.6-7 ft) tall; stems glabrous, slender.

Leaves: Opposite, simple, ovate or oblong to elliptic, 2-8 cm long, bright green and glabrous above, pale green and glabrous or often with a few coarse, stiff hairs below, margins entire, apex rounded; petiole 2-3 mm long.

Flowers: Borne in pairs on slender axillary peduncles, the subtending bracts linear, 0.1-0.2 cm long, green; calyx much reduced; corolla funnel-shaped, 5-lobed, 1-2 cm long, pale yellow to white, glabrous, basally spurred.

Fruits: Berry, ovoid, red or sometimes salmon-pink, fleshy.

Ecology: Found in open coniferous forests from 9,500-11,000 ft (2896-3353 m), flowers June-July.

Distribution: Apache and Greenlee counties (White Mountains); Canada, western U.S.

Notes: Utah honeysuckle tends to increase after thinning, but appears to be easily killed by fire, although it does have the potential to resprout. It makes a fine ornamental and can be propagated by bare root, cuttings, and seed. It has some browse potential for ungulates. Berries are eaten by black bears, birds, and small mammals, and the flowers are visited by hummingbirds.

Editor: Springer et al. 2011