Midwest Noxious Weed: Do Not Plant
Common Name: Amur honeysuckle
Type: Deciduous shrub
Family: Caprifoliaceae
Native Range: Eastern Asia
Zone: 3 to 8
Height: 10.00 to 15.00 feet
Spread: 10.00 to 15.00 feet
Bloom Time: May to June
Bloom Description: White aging to yellow
Sun: Full sun to part shade
Water: Medium
Maintenance: Medium
Suggested Use: Naturalize
Flower: Showy, Fragrant
Attracts: Birds, Hummingbirds, Butterflies
Fruit: Showy
Tolerate: Deer, Drought, Heavy Shade, Black Walnut
Culture
Easily grown in average, medium moisture, well-drained soils in full sun to part shade. Will tolerate considerable shade. Best in organically rich loams with good drainage. This is an aggressive and invasive shrub that easily spreads by self-seeding. It has been banned in Connecticut, prohibited in Massachusetts and designated as a Class B noxious weed in Vermont.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Lonicera maackii, commonly called Amur honeysuckle or bush honeysuckle, is native to Manchuria, Japan, Korea and China. It was first introduced into the U.S. in 1855. It was originally planted in the U.S. as an ornamental shrub, but it quickly escaped gardens and naturalized throughout much of the eastern U.S. to the Great Plains into a variety of sites including roadsides and railroads, woodland borders, some forests, fields, unused or disturbed lands and yard edges. Once spread into the wild, it can form dense, shrubby, understory colonies that eliminate native woody and herbaceous plants. Amur honeysuckle is a densely-branched, deciduous shrub that typically grows to 15' tall (sometimes more). It features tapered, ovate to lanceolate, medium to dark green leaves (to 3" long) and tubular, two-lipped, very fragrant summer white flowers (1" wide at throat) that age to yellow. Flowers bloom in May-June. Flowers give way to juicy, dark red berries which are inedible to humans but loved by birds who help spread the seed. It is distinguished from other honeysuckles by its short pedicils (nearly sessile flowers and berries).
Genus name honors Adam Lonitzer (1528-1586), German botanist, the author of an herbal (Kreuterbuch) many times reprinted between 1557 and 1783.
Specific epithet honors Russian naturalist Richard Maack (1825-1886).
Problems
Invasive nature of this plant is a serious problem in many urban and rural areas of the U. S. Control measures include a range of options from digging out plants in sparsely infested areas to prescribed burning or application of chemicals such as glyphosate in heavily infested areas.
Uses
This shade-tolerant shrub has in the past been used for a variety of purposes including landscape ornamental, wildlife cover/food plant, hedge and erosion control shrub. Because of invasiveness problems, it is not recommended for planting.