Shrub to 3 m tall

Leaves: opposite, bluish green, up to twice as long as wide, diamond- egg-shaped with broadly tapering base and pointed tip, slightly hairy.

Flowers: in pairs, axillary. Bractlets hairy along the margins. Calyx short, five-lobed, hairy along the margins. Corolla whitish, tubular, five-lobed. Stamens five.

Fruit: a few-seeded berry, in pairs, pinkish, small.

Twigs: hollow.

Form: upright.

Similar species: Lonicera xylosteum is similar but its bractlets and calyx lobes are hairy, and not just along the margins.

Flowering: May

Habitat and ecology: A rare escape from cultivation. May be found growing in degraded woodlands, woodlot borders, fencerows, and waste places.

Occurence in the Chicago region: non-native

Etymology: Lonicera is named after Adam Lonicer (1528-1586), a German botanist and author.

Author: The Morton Arboretum