Amur Honeysuckle

Amur Honeysuckle was introduced from Manchuria and Korea in the 1700s and 1800s for use as an ornamental, for wildlife cover and for soil erosion control. It is a deciduous plant that holds its leaves into winter and slowly drops them (tardily deciduous). It is an upright, arching-branched shrub to 20 feet tall. In forests the plant is spindly, but in sunnier openings it is much branched and arching with dark-green, opposite leaves. Flowers, produced April to early June, are white fading to cream in color, an inch long and in axillary pairs. The honeysuckle’s fruits are red berries, which vary in size but are generally around ¼ inch in diameter. These berries are produced in clusters with one or more seeds and may be mildly poisonous if eaten. Fruit ripens in October but may persist until February or March. Its common name “Amur Honeysuckle” is from its native range surrounding the Amur River, which forms the border between Siberia and Manchuria.