''Lonicera flava'' (commonly known as yellow honeysuckle
[) is a species of ]honeysuckle
Honeysuckles are arching shrubs or Vine#Twining vines, twining vines in the genus ''Lonicera'' () of the family Caprifoliaceae. The genus includes 158 species native to northern latitudes in North America, Eurasia, and North Africa. Widely kno ...
native to the central and eastern United States.vine
A vine is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas, or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselves, for instance, when used in wicker work.Jackson; Benjamin; Da ...
with yellow-orange flowers that are slightly fragrant.
Description
''Lonicera flava'' is a vine that twines or climbs on other vegetation or structures or trails along the ground, with a length up to about . Its gray bark becomes shredded as it ages. Leaves are simple with smooth margins and opposite, measuring long and wide. They are elliptic
In mathematics, an ellipse is a plane curve surrounding two focal points, such that for all points on the curve, the sum of the two distances to the focal points is a constant. It generalizes a circle, which is the special type of ellipse in ...
in shape, and the uppermost 1 or 2 pairs of leaves are fused around the stem (perfoliate
The following terms are used to describe leaf plant morphology, morphology in the description and taxonomy (biology), taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (that is, the leaf blade or 'lamina' is undivided) or compound (that is, the leaf blade ...
). The upper surface of the leaves is bright green, and the underside is paler green or gray.stamens
The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10
Morphology and terminology
A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filamen ...
. The fruit is a red or reddish-orange berry.
Etymology
The genus name ''Lonicera'' honors the German physician and botanist Adam Lonitzer (1528 – 1586), and the specific epithet ''flava'' is Latin for "yellow".
Distribution and habitat
''L. flava'' is native in the United States in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Tennessee.[ The plant grows in dry to mesic upland woods and forests, along stream banks, on bluffs, and at the margins of glades.]
Ecology
The flowers bloom April to May, and the berries appear August to September.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15395421
flava
Flora of the Eastern United States