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Shrub of the Month - August 2009

Tagged as: Shrub of the Month

Yellow Honeysuckle
(Lonicera prolifera)

Yellow Honeysuckle at The Morton Arboretum

August's Shrub of the Month bears clusters of bright red berries in late summer. This cheerful bushy shrub stands in Arbor Court outside the Visitor Center.

This native honeysuckle cannot make up its mind; is it a shrub or is it a vine? Consider it a sprawling woody vine or a vine-like shrub. Or just consider it lovely. Yellow flowers followed by bright red fruits make it as attractive in late summer as it is in spring. Waxy-white leaf undersides add to its ornamental quality. Notice how the upper leaves merge at their bases, forming a disc around the stem.

The name Lonicera comes from Adam Lonicer, a Renaissance botanist and author of a popular herbal textbook reprinted frequently between 1557 and 1783. Prolifera means prolific or free flowering, as its offshoot English term "proliferate" suggests.

Yellow Honeysuckle flower

Yellow Honeysuckle berries
Yellow honeysuckle flower Yellow honeysuckle berries

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