Shrub to 3 m tall

Leaves: opposite, 3 - 6 cm long, egg-shaped to oblong with a rounded to nearly heart-shaped base, widest below the middle.

Flowers: in pairs, borne on a 1.5 - 2.5 cm long axillary stalk. Bracts awl-shaped. Calyx short, five-lobed. Corolla scarcely two-lipped, pinkish white, 1.5 - 2 cm long, tubular, five-lobed (upper lip four-lobed, divided nearly to base; lower lip a single lobe), hairless outside, hairy inside. Corolla tube shorter than or equal to the lobes. Stamens five.

Fruit: a few-seeded berry, in pairs, reddish orange.

Twigs: vigorous, hollow.

Form: upright.

Similar species: Lonicera x notha is similar but its leaves are widest at or above the middle, not below the middle. Both species differ from other Lonicera by being mainly hairless and having corollas that do not yellow with age.

Flowering: May to June

Habitat and ecology: Introduced from Eurasia. Escaped from cultivation. Occasional in waste ground, thickets, and along fencerows and woodland edges.

Occurence in the Chicago region: non-native

Etymology: Lonicera is named after Adam Lonicer (1528-1586), a German botanist and author. Tatarica means "of or from the Tatar Mountains," which are in Russia.

Author: The Morton Arboretum

Glabrous shrub to 3 m, the vigorous shoots hollow; lvs ovate to oblong, 3-6 cm, rounded to subcordate at base; peduncles axillary, 15-25 mm; bracts subulate, shorter or longer than the separate ovaries; bractlets broadly ovate, about a third as long as the ovary; cor white to pink, 1.5-2 cm, glabrous, nearly regular, the lobes equaling or longer than the tube; style hirsute; fr red, rarely yellow; 2n=18. Native of Eurasia, escaped from cult. throughout our range. May, June. (Xylosteon t.)

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

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