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TATARIAN HONEYSUCKLE

Lonicera tatarica

Honeysuckle Family [Caprifoliaceae]

Flowers:
month8may month8jun month8june

Berries: berryZpossible        berryZorange berryZred  (slightly poisonous, φ10mm)
berry8aug berry8sep berry8sept berry8oct

category
category8Shrubs
category
category8Broadleaf
category
category8Deciduous
status
statusZneophyte
flower
flower8bicolour
flower
flower8pink flower8red
flower
flower8white
morph
morph8zygo
petals
petalsZ5
stem
stem8round

18th April 2014, Freshfields, Formby, Sefton Coast. Photo: © RWD
A deciduous shrub to 4m high.


18th April 2014, Freshfields, Formby, Sefton Coast. Photo: © RWD
Fowers pink, leaves mid-green.


18th April 2014, Freshfields, Formby, Sefton Coast. Photo: © RWD
Flowers in small groups. Leaves elliptical to ovate, between 3 and 8cm long.


18th April 2014, Freshfields, Formby, Sefton Coast. Photo: © RWD
Leaves opposite, flowers in pairs growing from leaf axils.


18th April 2014, Freshfields, Formby, Sefton Coast. Photo: © RWD
Two long, narrow bracts at the base of each flower-pair AND reddish-pink (sometimes white) flowers that are zygomorphic differentiate this Honeysuckle from several other similar ones.


18th April 2014, Freshfields, Formby, Sefton Coast. Photo: © RWD
Flowers zygomorphic as are most Honeysuckles (rather than the actinomorphic/hemizygomorphic of a few Honeysuckles). Un-opened flower buds on left. Five petals and five prominent stamens bearing yellow pollen. A single style lurks amidst them.


18th April 2014, Freshfields, Formby, Sefton Coast. Photo: © RWD
Zygomorphic flowers : petals in a triplet and a separated pair (when not dishevelled by wind or rain).


18th April 2014, Freshfields, Formby, Sefton Coast. Photo: © RWD
Flowers emerge conically (before petals flare out) from a very small sepal cup, with 5 short triangular pinkish sepals at the opening. One of the two long narrow bracts is also visible in the photo.


18th April 2014, Freshfields, Formby, Sefton Coast. Photo: © RWD
Matt leaves in pairs, flowers in pairs on long stalks emerging from the leaf axils.


Can be mistaken for : Fly Honeysuckle (Lonicera xylosteum) but that grows to only half the height (2m) and has pale yellow to cream coloured flowers and smaller flowers only 8-15mm across (as opposed to 15-25mm across for Tatarian Honeysuckle). Also, the leaves are hairy on Fly Honeysuckle (hairless on Tatarian Honeysuckle). Both have two long, narrow bracts underneath the flower-pairs [as do Wilson's Honeysuckle (Lonicera nitida) and Box-Leaved Honeysuckle (Lonicera pileata), but both of those have purple/violet berries instead of orange/red berries].

Not directly related to : Himalayan Honeysuckle [which is in the same Honeysuckle Family but in a differing genus, Leycestaria].

A deciduous non-native garden shrub native to Siberia and East Asia which escapes as bird-sown occasionally. It has a red berry. In North America it is an introduced so-called 'noxious weed', spreading out of control forming thickets.

Just like Catmint (aka Catnip) (Nepeta cataria) and Garden Catmint (Nepeta x faassenii) as well as Common Valerian (Valeriana officinalis), Tatarian Honeysuckle contains the same sesquiterpene lactone Nepetalactone which drives cats wild and into a trance-like ecstatic state.


USE BY BUTTERFLIES
LAYS EGGS ON CATERPILLAR CHRYSALIS BUTTERFLY
White Admiral



  Lonicera tatarica  ⇐ Global Aspect ⇒ Caprifoliaceae  

Distribution
 family8Honeysuckle family8Caprifoliaceae
 BSBI maps
genus8Lonicera
Lonicera
(Honeysuckles)

TATARIAN HONEYSUCKLE

Lonicera tatarica

Honeysuckle Family [Caprifoliaceae]