Wild Honeysuckle Bushes

Chaparral Honeysuckle

• This shrub or vine, also called Lonicera interrupta, is native to California, and lives primarily in the chaparral, foothill woodlands and yellow pine forests. It produces yellow flowers and can live at elevations up to 6000 feet. Chaparral honeysuckle attracts birds, bees and other wildlife, and is an excellent landscaping plant for dryer areas.

Hairy Honeysuckle

• This native North American honeysuckle is found wild in northeastern America, and is also called Lonicera hirsuta. It has hairy leaves and yellow to orange flowers and prefers damp open or shaded ground. This twining plant can grow to be up to 10 feet high.

Coral Honeysuckle

• This striking plant is also called trumpet vine and Lonicera sempervirens. It has pink to red trumpet-shaped flowers and its nectar is difficult for bees to reach. Coral honeysuckle is a North American native, and tends to attract hummingbirds as pollinators. It tolerates drought well.

Amur Honeysuckle

• This invasive honeysuckle is also known as Lonicera maackii, and was introduced to the central U.S. in the late 1950s, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. It is not found throughout much of the eastern part of the country. It is originally native to northeastern Asia, and produces white or yellow flowers. This honeysuckle can grow up to 15 feet tall and tends to invade open woodlands.

Tartarian Honeysuckle

• This exotic bush honeysuckle, also called Lonicera tartarica, is originally native to Asia and western Europe, and was introduced in the 1750s. It has naturalized along the East Coast and as far west as Iowa. It produces a 3- to 10-foot bush, and pink to red flowers. Tartarian honeysuckle is a vigorous grower, and when its seeds are spread by birds and small mammals, readily invades forests and open places.

Japanese Honeysuckle

• Japanese honeysuckle, or Lonicera japonica, is a vine that climbs trees, eventually killing them. It originated in Japan and is a major pest in at least 38 states. It produces white, pink or yellow flowers with a strong fragrance and has semi-evergreen leaves. Fruit is black at maturity and easy to distinguish from the red fruit of bush honeysuckles.