Lonicera maackii (Amur Honeysuckle)

Photograph taken by on Tuesday, November 19, 2019
Lonicera maackii (Amur Honeysuckle)

Lonicera maackii (Amur Honeysuckle)

This is one of the more prevalent weed shrubs in our area. The Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii) is an east Asian native that has firmly established itself as noxious weed in the eastern half of North America. It’s got the sweet, tubular flowers typical to honeysuckles, starting out white and aging to yellow. They are followed in the fall (right about now, obviously) by bright red, juicy berries. Although they are inedible to humans, birds eat them and spread the seeds far and wide. They were once planted as an ornamental and you can see why. However, they are no longer recommended, because of their invasive nature.

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