The white honeysuckle is a deciduous shrub that grows up to 4 feet tall. However, its long, graceful branches can reach up to 10 feet in height and sometimes twine around other plants. The leaves are paired, broadly oval, and about 2 3/4 inches long and 1 3/4 inches wide, with smooth margins, rounded or tapered at the base, and a rounded tip with a minute point. The pair of leaves immediately below the flowers are fused at their bases. The plant produces showy, white flowers that are two-lipped, up to 5/8 inch long and occur in clusters of 2-3 inches at the ends of the branches. After the flowers, clusters of orange-red berries, up to 3/8 inch in diameter, appear. The plant is a good source of browse for deer, and the berries attract birds.
This shrub is attractive, with dark green foliage and clusters of white flowers. It does not have the aggressive tendencies of Japanese honeysuckle, making it a great addition to any garden. The genus Lonicera is named after Adam Lonicer, a German botanist who lived between 1528 and 1586. He was a renowned botanist known for his 1557 revised version of Eucharius Rösslin’s herbal. Though he became a professor of Mathematics in 1553 and a Doctor of Medicine in 1554, his true passion was herbs and the study of botany.
