Never saw this before- shrub (northern bush honey suckle)

[sprucebunny]

Found this nice shrub amoung the rasberries. It's about the same height and bushy.
I have never seen it before.

Anyone know what it is ???





The bees seemed very interested in it ;D

[Jeff]

Well, it looks to have very green leaves and smallish yellow flowers...

[SwampDonkey]

It looks like what we call northern bush honey suckle up here Diervilla lonicera. I have it on gravelly knolls on my woods ground. Mine doesn't grow very tall, maybe up to 4 feet tall.  Fruit is long pointed dry capsules. But, I think it's common near wet ground also. Humming birds love it too. In the spring a close cousin, the Canada fly honeysuckle is in flower very early before leaves emerge on other shrubs and trees.

http://www.borealforest.org/shrubs/shrub13.htm

As you can see in the link below, the background shrubs are still bare, while the Canada fly honeysuckle is leaved out and in bloom. Has red berries when ripe.

http://www.mcelroy.ca/flora/10a-6740.shtml

[SwampDonkey]

Here is a picture of the Canada Fly Honeysuckle with fruit. I planted this about 13 years ago under my spruce hedge row in the shade, and I see there are now two or three baby ones that have grown from seed since. Some people might call it a weed, but I like to find it in the woods. When it's in flower and there are enough of them around, stick around and the hummers will be by to visit.  8)

[sprucebunny]

Thanks, SD. I had noticed that the flowers looked like honeysuckle. This is on dry, gravelly land

I would have tried to smell them it it weren't for the bees and the snakes all over the place.

It is very green and nice, Jeff    I wonder if it has any bad habits... like spreading like crazy....

I'll keep my eyes open for the Canada Fly one, too.

Do you think that if I collected some seed, it would grow ???

[SwampDonkey]

From what I've seen of the bush honeysuckle, it spreads like raspberry bushes in open areas. I imagine if the seed was planted in fall outside in a small corner of the garden, then covered in maple leaves, it would germinate like crazy. Probably collect the seed capsules in September. Not sure about germinating inside during the winter because the seed might have to be stratified in a cool moist environment for days or weeks (like the fridge). As far as the Canada fly honeysuckle, if you find the berries before they drop form the plant, which is probably soon, you could remove the flesh and store in the fridge for a couple weeks and try to germinate them in pots. Never hurts to try. I would also plant some in a patch in the garden or flower bed and mark it, probably have better success. It will probably do ok in full sun. But, I think it is very tolerant to shaded growing conditions in the wild, where there is less understory competition.

[Jeff]

Its just lucky I was here to point Donk in the right direction.

[DanG]

Its just lucky I was here to point Donk in the right direction.

Yeah, that boy needs all the help he kin git. : ;D

[SwampDonkey]

Thanks for the guidance and wisdom.  ;D 8)

[Pullinchips]

I did not click the link yet but is it also called american honeysuckle as opposed to the invasive japaneese honeysuckle that can be an obnoxious vine.

-nate

[SwampDonkey]

I did not click the link yet but is it also called american honeysuckle as opposed to the invasive japaneese honeysuckle that can be an obnoxious vine.

-nate

Different species Nate, it's even listed on VTechs dendro pages.

http://www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=423

[jkj]

The bees seemed very interested in it

From the leaves and flowers it sure looks like the bush honeysuckle we have around here.  But this is a serious invasive species which has taken over large areas.  A quick internet look shows several species of bush honeysuckle on the invasive lists in many states across the country.  The parks and farmers are fighting it in TN.  I've dug up hundreds on my land although my bees do love it - I had areas where it crowded out everything else, even the privet and maple.  (Privet, honeysuckle vine, wild grape, bush honeysuckle, virginia creeper, poison ivy, ailanthus, and mimosa are on my kill list.)

JKJ

[SwampDonkey]

Don't confuse wild plants with invasive introduced plants. I've seen these in the wild and they grow low and creep along the ground mostly as we have snow up here and the perrenial stems get trained by snow to lay down. I've not seen them take over to a point they kill out commercial trees. 7 foot tall wild raspberry canes are 10 times worse.

[jkj]

Don't confuse wild plants with invasive introduced plants. I've seen these in the wild and they grow low and creep along the ground mostly...

It's hard to tell which message you are responding to, but if you are referring to the bush honeysuckle I mentioned, I believe the plant here have is an asian variety.  This grows in large bushy clumps 5-15' tall and at least that across.  The stems might reach 2"+ in diameter at the ground.  It produces a huge number of red berries which the birds love and spread the seeds. 

When isolated in the woods, it seems to play well with others, but I found places where it had spread thickly, leaving almost nothing else growing in those areas.  Even missing were the maple, sassafras, and dogwood saplings which seem to be the first native trees which comes up under the large trees here.  Practically the only thing on the ground in these "groves" was dirt and dead leaves.  I think the problem is the leaves come out very early in the spring creating a thick understory canopy which shades other plants. One article I read said "serious infestations can inhibit tree regeneration , essentially stopping forest succession."   A local newspaper article last year described how the park service had declared war on bush honeysuckle (and privet) which was taking over in large areas. 

Also, I read that some species release chemicals which poison the soil.  One area where I dug them up two years ago still has no new growth except for poison ivy/virginia creeper and a low grassy plant of some sort. 

Except for the bees and feeding birds in the fall, it's evidently not wildlife friendly.  In addition to the wide open ground below the plants, it also has fairly open branches and foliage which is not good for small mammals and nesting birds.  Even my goats usually do not eat it.  Out-of-control privet actually looks a lot worse but at least it can grow into an extremely dense thicket which provides secure nesting habitat (and the goats love it, so I suspect the deer eat it as well).

Asian bush honeysuckle is another species which was imported and planted by people as ornamentals.  When will we learn.

JKJ

[SwampDonkey]

I was only commenting in reference to sprucebunny's plant being pictured in the thread. A 15 foot honey suckle sure sounds introduced, but there are many species all over the country I'm not familair with.