Amur Honeysuckle

Kendall County (IL) Forest Preserve District

Amur Honeysuckle
Lonicera maackii
Honeysuckle family (Caprifoliaceae)
Blooms mid-May - August

The non-native (Asian) Amur Honeysuckle is common (unfortunately) in our area. It is an invasive that keeps moving into our natural areas. It prefers full sun to light shade and moist to dry soil. Habitats include deciduous woodlands, savannas and woodland edges and semi-shaded waste areas. This aggressive shrub can grow to 20' tall and 15' across with abundant branching. Young branches have pairs of opposite leaves 2–3½" long and 1–1½" across and toothless. Pairs of flowers develop from the axils of the leaves. Each flower is about ¾–1" long, initially white and later becoming cream-colored.

Amur Honeysuckle at Pickerill/Pigott Forest Preserve August 8, 2013

Amur Honeysuckle at Millbrook South Forest Preserve May 30, 2014

Amur Honeysuckle at Pickerill/Pigott Forest Preserve October 29, 2014

The fragrant flowers are replaced by berries. At maturity, these berries are ¼" across, globoid, shiny red, and juicy; each berry contains 2-3 seeds. Birds eat the berries and spread the shrub to new areas by its seeds.

Amur Honeysuckle is one of the earliest plants to put out leaves in the spring and one of the latest to lose its leaves in the fall. Its rapidly widening leaf canopy tends to snuff out any plants underneath. This aggressive shrub has been invading our natural areas and displacing native shrubs and destroying the under story of our native wildflowers.

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