Lonicera hispidula

Native to open woods and shrublands from southwest British Columbia to southwest California, Lonicera hispidula is a member of the honeysuckle family (family Caprifoliaceae), which includes mainly shrubs, sometimes vines or herbs, commonly with showy flowers. This species is one of those peculiar twining shrubs sometimes encountered in genus Lonicera. It usually grows as a loose shrub unless its branches come in contact with something it can twine onto, like a neighboring plant or a fence; then the branches will twine up and out while the center of the plant remains a somewhat stout shrub. Some individuals, though, are more generally vine-like and will trail along the ground with little or no shrubbiness, while others will be more consistently shrubby and will hardly twine at all. Lonicera hispidula is deciduous to semi-evergreen and ranges from 3 to 20 feet high, the greatest heights reached by twining. Attractive pink, rose, or purple flowers appear in spring and summer and decorative red berries in fall.
The genus, Lonicera, is named for Adam Lonicer (1528 - 1586), a German botanist noted for his 1557 revised version of Eucharius Rösslin’s herbal. He became professor of Mathematics in 1553 and Doctor of Medicine in 1554, becoming the town physician in Frankfurt-am-Main. His true interest though was herbs and the study of botany.

3-6 hours of sun per day, with protection from intense mid-day sun

Water moderately, allowing the top 3cm to dry out between watering.

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Lonicera Hispidula

Lonicera hispidula

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