Plant of the Week
Amur Honeysuckle
Latin: Lonicera maackii
Strolling through the woodlands of northwest Arkansas with my bulldog I have
ample opportunity to inspect the vegetation while Arnold studies the scents he
finds so interesting. One of the most common plants we encounter is a Chinese
native, Amur Honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii). How did this plant from the other
side of the world become so prevalent in this region?
Amur honeysuckle is a deciduous shrub growing 8 to 10-feet tall with numerous
branches arising from a central crown. It is twiggy by nature and grows in what
we refer to as a vase-shaped habit, the same general outline as an American elm
but considerably smaller. In the summer the oppositely arranged, entire
margined, 2 to 3-inch long leaves end in a narrow point, but are otherwise
unremarkable.
In April and May the 1-inch long, honeysuckle-shaped white flowers are
produced along the stems after the leaves emerge. As the flowers age they change
to a creamy yellow. There is no noticeable fragrance. Following the flowers come
berries, lots of berries. The translucent red, pea size berries appear in
October and persist until late winter. Birds seem to use them as a backup food
source, shunning them if something more to their liking is available.
The Amur Honeysuckle was named after its discoverer, David Maack (1825-1886).
Maack was a naturalist and explorer who, in the 1850's, tromped through the
mountainous borderland between northeastern China and Russian Siberia looking
for things of scientific interest. Many of his plant introductions came from the
Ussuri River watershed, a major tributary of the Amur River, which is the
boundary between Russia and Manchuria.
From hints given by the complete Latin name, I surmise that Maack sent his
botanical discoveries to the Imperial Botanic Garden (today the Komarov
Botanical Institute) in St.
Petersburg. There the botanist in charge was C. J. Maximowicz who wrote
extensively on the flora of his homeland and introduced a number of Japanese
plants into cultivation. While interesting background, this still doesn’t
explain the Amur honeysuckle growing in our woodlands.
I found another clue in the journal of a Fayetteville nurseryman, Jacob Smith
(1799-1878). Smith, a native of Denmark, immigrated to Fayetteville in 1836 and
purchased 160 acres of land two miles north of the then small settlement in
northwest Arkansas. He was a nature lover who recorded the comings and goings of
birds, when flowers bloomed and lots of weather observations affecting his
garden, a place the locals called " Smith’s Flower Garden." His journals are
preserved in the Special Collections of the Mullens Library at the University.
On May 14, 1866 is his notation "China Honeysuckle in bloom." Smith
accumulated about 150 species of plants before the Civil War, no small feat for
the western outpost Fayetteville must have been at the time. One of his
favorites seems to have been honeysuckles, for he grew at least 10 different
kinds. John Fitzpatrick, the director of Historic Plants at Monticello,
identified Smith’s "China Honeysuckle" as the vining plant we now call Japanese
Honeysuckle.
But I wonder if perhaps the plant Smith grew was instead the Amur
Honeysuckle. Several of the other plants Smith grew in his nursery were growing
in his Fayetteville garden about 10 years after they were brought into
cultivation by various plant explorers. This quick distribution of "new plants"
indicates the well-oiled distribution system that existed for plants in mid-19th
century America.
The widespread distribution of Amur honeysuckle in our woodlands indicates
that birds spread it freely, and that it has been here for a long time.
Gardeners no longer grow this troublesome weed-plant and are only interested in
seeing it gone. Fortunately, the plant is remarkably shallow rooted and even
fairly large plants can be grubbed out readily.
By: Gerald Klingaman, retired
Extension Horticulturist
- Ornamentals
Extension News -
January 24, 2003
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