American fly honeysuckle

(Lonicera canadensis)

Conservation Status
American fly honeysuckle
 
  IUCN Red List

not listed

     
  NatureServe

NNR - Unranked

SNR - Unranked

     
  Minnesota

not listed

     
           
Wetland Indicator Status
     
  Great Plains

FAC - Facultative

     
  Midwest

FAC - Facultative

     
  Northcentral & Northeast

FAC - Facultative

     
           
 
Description
 
 

American fly honeysuckle is a straggly deciduous shrub. It occurs in northern United States from Maine to Minnesota, south to New Jersey and Indiana and along the Appalachian Mountains to North Carolina, and in Canada from Nova Scotia to southern Manitoba. In Minnesota it is very common in the northeastern third of the state, where it is at the western extent of its range. It is found in moist to moderately dry upland coniferous and deciduous woodlands, sometimes in lowland forests and swamps. It grows in sandy or loamy soil under full to partial shade.

American fly honeysuckle is a perennial shrub that rises on one or more stems from a shallow root system. The stems are slender and branched. They can be up to ¾ in diameter at the base and 24 to 80 in height, but are usually no more than 40 tall. They may be erect or sprawl along the ground. When sprawling, they produce roots where the stem contacts the ground. The stem detaches at that point, creating a new plant. The branches are erect to horizontal (spreading). First year stems and branchlets are round in cross section, hairless, greenish to purplish, and smooth to the touch. Second year stems are brown to reddish-gray. The mass of spongy cells in the center of the stem (pith), best seen when the stem is sliced at an angle, is solid and white. The bark is thin, fibrous, and brown or reddish-gray. It peels in long strips that hang on the stem. When a leaf drops away, the scar that remains (leaf scar) is small and inconspicuous. Winter buds are small and pointed.

The leaves are opposite, 1316 to 3½ (3 to 9 cm) long, and 1 to 2 (2.5 to 5.0 cm) wide. They are on to ¼ (6 to 6 mm) long stalks (petioles). The petioles have a fringe of hairs. The leaf blades are lance egg-shaped, widest near the base, to almost elliptic, widest just below the middle. They may be rounded, slightly heart-shaped, or broadly-wedge-shaped at the base, and broadly or narrowly angled at the tip. The upper surface is dark green and hairless. The lower surface is lighter green and hairless or sparsely hairy. The margins are untoothed and have a fringe of hairs (cilia). The cilia may be hard to see, and may wear away as the leaf ages.

The flowers appear in early May to early mid-June. The inflorescence is a single pair of flowers rising from the leaf axils near the end of the current year’s stems and branches. Each flower pair is on a hairless, to ¾ long (1 to 2 cm) long stalk (peduncle). Each individual flower is stalkless.

The flowers are ½ to (12 to 22 mm) long. There are 5 outer floral leaves (sepals), 5 petals, 5 stamens, and 1 style. The sepals are green and very short, less than 132 (0.2 to 0.6 mm) long. They are fused at the base then separated into 5 lobes. The petals are pale yellow and sometimes tinged with purple. They are fused at the base and for at least half their length into a narrow floral tube, then separated into five lobes. The stamens have pale yellow anthers and protrude a little beyond the floral tube. The style has a cap-like tip (stigma) and protrudes well beyond the floral tube.

The aggregate of fruit (infructescence) is a pair of soft, bright red, egg-shaped, ¼ to 716 (6 to 11 mm) long berries. The berries touch at the wide base and spread nearly horizontally. They mature in late early mid-June to early August.

and remain on the plant until picked off by birds or mammals.

 
     
 

Height

 
 

24 to 40

 
     
 

Flower Color

 
 

Pale yellow

 
     
 

Similar Species

 
  Mountain fly honeysuckle (Lonicera villosa) leaf blades are widest at or beyond the middle. The upper leaf surface is hairy. The flowers are much smaller, no more than long. The infructescence is a single bluish-black berry.  
     
 
Habitat
 
 

Moist to moderately dry. Upland coniferous and deciduous woodlands, sometimes in lowland forests and swamps. Full to partial shade. Sandy or loamy soil.

 
     
 
Ecology
 
 

Flowering

 
 

Early May to early mid-June

 
     
 

Pests and Diseases

 
 

 

 
     
 
Use
 
 

 

 
     
 
Distribution
 
 

Distribution Map

 

Sources

2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 28, 29, 30.

 
  2/10/2023      
         
 

Nativity

 
 

Native

 
         
 

Occurrence

 
 

Very common in northeast Minnesota

 
         
 
Taxonomy
 
  Kingdom Plantae (green algae and land plants)  
  Subkingdom Viridiplantae (green plants)  
  Infrakingdom Streptophyta (land plants and green algae)  
  Superdivision Embryophyta (land plants)  
  Division Tracheophyta (vascular plants)  
  Subdivision Spermatophytina (seed plants)  
  Class Magnoliopsida (flowering plants)  
  Subclass Caryophyllidae  
  Superorder Asteranae  
 

Order

Dipsacales (honeysuckles, moschatels, and allies)  
 

Family

Caprifoliaceae (honeysuckle)  
  Subfamily Caprifolioideae  
 

Genus

Lonicera (honeysuckles)  
  Subgenus Lonicera  
       
 

Subordinate Taxa

 
 

 

 
       
 

Synonyms

 
 

Xylosteon ciliatum

 
       
 

Common Names

 
 

American fly honeysuckle

American fly-honeysuckle

Canadian fly honeysuckle

fly honeysuckle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary

Elliptic

Narrowly oval, broadest at the middle, narrower at both ends, with the ends being equal.

 

Peduncle

In angiosperms, the stalk of a single flower or a flower cluster; in club mosses, the stalk of a strobilus or a group of strobili.

 

Petiole

On plants: The stalk of a leaf blade or a compound leaf that attaches it to the stem. On ants and wasps: The constricted first one or two segments of the rear part of the body.

 

Pith

The spongy cells in the center of the stem.

 

Sepal

An outer floral leaf, usually green but sometimes colored, at the base of a flower.

 

Spreading

Extending nearly horizontal.

 
 
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MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos
 
 

Leaves

 
    American fly honeysuckle      
           
 

Infructescence

 
    American fly honeysuckle      

 

Camera

     
 
Slideshows
 
  American Fly Honeysuckle (Lonicera canadensis)
Andree Reno Sanborn
 
  American Fly Honeysuckle (Lonicera canadensis)  
 
About

Native, non-invasive

 

 

slideshow

       
 
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Visitor Sightings
 
           
 

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  Dan Hill
6/4/2023

Location: Franklin N.H.

   
           
 
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Created: 2/4/2020

Last Updated:

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