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Fly Honeysuckle |
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American Fly Honeysuckle |
Plant Habit: | Shrub |
Life cycle: | Perennial |
Sun Requirements: | Full Sun to Partial Shade |
Water Preferences: | Mesic |
Soil pH Preferences: | Slightly acid (6.1 – 6.5) Neutral (6.6 – 7.3) Slightly alkaline (7.4 – 7.8) |
Minimum cold hardiness: | Zone 4a -34.4 °C (-30 °F) to -31.7 °C (-25 °F) |
Maximum recommended zone: | Zone 7b |
Plant Height: | 4 to 6 feet |
Leaves: | Deciduous Other: Leaf margins are have fine hairs. |
Fruit: | Showy Edible to birds Other: Pairs of 1/4 to 1/2 inch bright red berries, pointed in opposite directions. |
Fruiting Time: | Late summer or early fall |
Flowers: | Showy |
Flower Color: | Other: Pale yellow |
Bloom Size: | Under 1" |
Flower Time: | Late winter or early spring Spring Late spring or early summer |
Suitable Locations: | Espalier |
Wildlife Attractant: | Birds Butterflies Hummingbirds |
Toxicity: | Fruit is poisonous Other: The berries are mildly toxic |
Pollinators: | Various insects |
Posted by ILPARW (southeast Pennsylvania - Zone 6b) on Aug 8, 2018 12:08 PM Unfortunately, I have never seen this native shrub in the wild that grows from southern Ontario & Quebec to Nova Scotia, in most of New England, New York, and Pennsylvania, down the Appalachians almost to Georgia, northeast Ohio, most of Michigan, northwest Indiana, and northern Wisconsin & Minnesota. It grows in bogs, swamps, dry woods, and in cool deep moist woods. It likes stony or sandy or silt or clay loam soils with pH 6 to 8.5. Less common in pure clay soils. It grows fast and has a fibrous, shallow, spreading root system like other honeysuckle shrubs. It is very tolerant of shade. Its opposite leaves are supposed to be fringed with hairs and only turn a greenish-yellow in the fall, dropping in late November. The tubular bell-like trumpet flowers come in nodding pairs, get about 3/4 inch long, and are cream-colored to pale yellow to orange in May and are slightly fragrant. My plant that first bloomed showed creamy flowers with a blush of pink. The egg-shaped berries about 1/4 inch long are light red in July-August and are supposed to be edible to humans, besides birds and small mammals. Resistant to heat, drought, and salt. A very few native plant nurseries grow this species. I just bought three saplings from Reeseville Ridge Nursery in central Wisconsin by mail, planted them in pots, and look forward to their future. I love rare American native plants. (The similar European Fly Honeysuckle of Lonicera xylosteum has two dwarf cultivars occasionally used by professional landscapers being "Claveyi' and 'Emerald Mound.') [ Reply to this comment | |
Thread Title | Last Reply | Replies |
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flower identification by dwansers | Apr 22, 2020 11:27 AM | 4 |
What is this bush with barberry like berries? by LAS14 | Apr 22, 2020 11:34 AM | 3 |
double red berries by wnderer | Apr 22, 2020 11:40 AM | 4 |
Wild Fruits for the Wild Critters by JuneOntario | Nov 24, 2013 9:45 AM | 127 |
Midwest Weather and everything else by kareoke | Jan 18, 2021 9:09 AM | 39,073 |
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