Invasive Species Identification Sheet

Non-Native, Invasive Shrub Honeysuckles of the Northeastern U.S.

• mature twigs have a hollow core (L. maackii is hollow except at the leaf nodes)
  • Amur Honeysuckle ..................................... Lonicera maackii (Rupr.) Maxim.
  • Belle Honeysuckle ....................................... Lonicera X bella Zabel
  • European Fly-honeysuckle ........................ Lonicera xylosteum L.
  • Morrow’s Honeysuckle .............................. Lonicera morrowii Gray
  • Tatarian Honeysuckle ................................ Lonicera tatarica L.
• shrub (L. maackii also can be a shrubby tree); with twigs/branches with hollow centers
• leaves opposite, with untoothed margins; upper pair of leaves never joined to each other
• papery scales surround twig where current year’s growth begins (use hand lens to see detail)
• when a leaf is removed, there are 3 dots on the twig inside the leaf scar (use good hand lens)
• there are lines across the twig where the pairs of leaves are (or were) attached
• species flower color varies; includes white, pink, (red, purplish) with some aging to yellow
• flowers 3/8"– 1" long; 5 flower petals are joined at their bases into a nectar-containing tube
• species vary in the pattern and the length that individual petal lobes are fused
• flower stems come out of the leaf axils (come from the same points on the stem as the leaves)
• each leaf axil with flowers has a pair of flowers at the tip of a single flower stalk
• berries usually red; can be yellow or orange or clear, but never blue, black, or white
• if all flowers produce fruit, the branchlet can appear to have berries in groups of 4 (2 groups of 2 flowers each for every pair of leaves
• non-native honeysuckles tend to leaf out earlier than most native shrubs

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