Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle) is among those honeysuckles considered invasive, but I wonder if it will root from a pruned stem simply laying on the ground somewhere. I had thought it was propagated primarily via seeds but need to know for sure as we have a lovely vine that my housemate is concerned will root itself just from pruned cuttings. (I'd rather compost them, myself. )

I usually lay the stem on the ground and cover it with soil and mulch while it is attached to the mother plant. That gives me good results. But I have pruned back severely and, not wanting to waste the cuttings, I have laid the cuttings in a shallow tray with soil and mulch. Roots appear at every node along the stem; I later cut them apart and have plenty to share.

[Note of thanks to Jane Straus, author of "The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation" because I never get that whole 'lay/lie/laid/lied' thing straight by myself. ]

Thanks for that detailed answer, and using excellent grammar, to boot!

Sadly, it is the opposite of what I hoped to learn. Those cuttings WILL root themselves given half a chance, so my housemate is correct that if she doesn't want that, she should dispose of them.

But I'm glad to know the truth even if it hurts.

Sometimes one answer that benefits the folks up north in the cold climates scares the folks in the warmer climates.

There are many plant materials that can be added to a compost/mulch pile. You are correct - honeysuckle is one plant material that may want to go straight into the trash for many folks. You have a wise housemate.

Given the right conditions I'd say they just might root up, but if your careful you should be fine.
You might find it return from somewhere close by where you removed it tho, they can sprout back from a piece of root, sometimes efforts to eliminate it, actually do propagate it.
Often chemical means are required to kill it... Hateful stuff!
Here in central ky, it's hard to describe how out of control bush honeysuckle is!
It's displaced every level of flora!
From tiny sorrel to giant oaks and everything in between,
Not only does it out compete everything, native or not, but it also changes the soil composition, much like walnut trees are renowned for, making it impossible for seeds to even germinate, as if they could compete with a canopy that thick.
They also leaf out before anything else around, it's rediculous!
Ive heard bird people defend them, stating that they give birds cover, and in this desert of highly maintained horse paddocks, it is something of a refuge, but more often I've heard that the birds love the berries in winter!
Well, turns out they do! But...
They have almost 0 nutritional value!
That's why the birds wait until winter to eat the darn things!
They look delicious, bright red, beaming and juicy by mid fall...
The birds can apparently tell the berries are lacking and leave them until nothing else is left!
I'm not sure if it's fact or just anecdote, but I've even read birds have been found dead of malnutrition with a belly full of honeysuckle berries...

Funny thing is, you don't have to travel far before it vanishes from the landscape.
Over the years I've noticed it follows I-75 and I-64 either in solid stands miles long or just pockets of it here and there.... But as predominant as it is here it seems that it's the vining honeysuckle that's so insidious throughout the much of the rest of the state.
I'm not nearly as well versed on it, seems it can't compete with the bush honeysuckle either...
I have no use for ANY of them!