OF THE CAROLINAS & GEORGIA

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Campanulids: Dipsacales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Lonicera fragrantissima   FAMILY Caprifoliaceae   Go to FSUS key



SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Lonicera fragrantissima   FAMILY Caprifoliaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 174-02-003:

Lonicera fragrantissima   FAMILY Caprifoliaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)

Xylosteon fragrantissimum

 

COMMON NAME:
Sweet-breath-of-spring, Winter Honeysuckle


         To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.

image of Lonicera fragrantissima, Sweet-breath-of-spring, Winter Honeysuckle

JK Marlow    jkm160130_092

January    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

image of Lonicera fragrantissima, Sweet-breath-of-spring, Winter Honeysuckle

JK Marlow    jkm160130_095

January    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

image of Lonicera fragrantissima, Sweet-breath-of-spring, Winter Honeysuckle

JK Marlow    jkm160130_097

January    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

image of Lonicera fragrantissima, Sweet-breath-of-spring, Winter Honeysuckle

JK Marlow    jkm160130_098

January    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

image of Lonicera fragrantissima, Sweet-breath-of-spring, Winter Honeysuckle

JK Marlow    jkm160130_100

January    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

image of Lonicera fragrantissima, Sweet-breath-of-spring, Winter Honeysuckle

JK Marlow    jkm160130_104

January    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

Stigma capitate [head-like], per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).

image of Lonicera fragrantissima, Sweet-breath-of-spring, Winter Honeysuckle

JK Marlow    jkm160130_106

January    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

Leaves elliptic to broad-ovate, 1-3" long, 2/3x to almost as wide, per Manual of Woody Landscape Plants (Dirr, 1975+).

image of Lonicera fragrantissima, Sweet-breath-of-spring, Winter Honeysuckle

Roxanna Martin    rlm12812_103

January    Spartanburg County    SC

Five stamens, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).

image of Lonicera fragrantissima, Sweet-breath-of-spring, Winter Honeysuckle

Roxanna Martin    rlm12812_106

January    Spartanburg County    SC

Flowers paired, subtended by 2 linear bracts; calyx lobes essentially obsolete, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).

image of Lonicera fragrantissima, Sweet-breath-of-spring, Winter Honeysuckle

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_l_fragrantissima

February        

Flowers are paired and their ovaries are united half their length, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).

image of Lonicera fragrantissima, Sweet-breath-of-spring, Winter Honeysuckle

JK Marlow    s050227_u

February    Richland County    SC

Roadside

image of Lonicera fragrantissima, Sweet-breath-of-spring, Winter Honeysuckle

JK Marlow    jkm110316_013

March    Greenville County    SC

Wide-spreading shrub with a tangled mass of slender recurving branches, per Manual of Woody Landscape Plants (Dirr, 1975+).

image of Lonicera fragrantissima, Sweet-breath-of-spring, Winter Honeysuckle

JK Marlow    jkm110316_019

March    Greenville County    SC

Bark often flaking, per A Field Guide for the Identification of Invasive Plants in Southern Forests (Miller, Chambliss, & Lowenstein, 2010).

image of Lonicera fragrantissima, Sweet-breath-of-spring, Winter Honeysuckle

JK Marlow    jkm110316_020c

March    Greenville County    SC

Flowers relatively small, 2-lipped, creamy white tinged pink or red, per Manual of Woody Landscape Plants (Dirr, 1975+).

image of Lonicera fragrantissima, Sweet-breath-of-spring, Winter Honeysuckle

JK Marlow    jkm151230_073

December    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

Holds foliage very late into fall and, in southern states, into winter, per Manual of Woody Landscape Plants (Dirr, 1975+).

 

 

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Lonicera fragrantissima   FAMILY Caprifoliaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Lonicera fragrantissima   FAMILY Caprifoliaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 174-02-003:
Lonicera fragrantissima   FAMILY Caprifoliaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Xylosteon fragrantissimum

 

Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME:

863

Shrub
Perennial

Habitat: forests, woodlands, roadbanks, old house sites, spreading (sometimes aggressively) from horticultural use, per Weakley's Flora

Non-native: China

Uncommon in Piedmont & Carolina Mountains (rare elsewhere in GA-NC-SC)

map
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.


INVASIVE

This plant is causing problems in natural areas outside its native range, according to authorities such as:

 

LEAVES:
Tardily deciduous
Simple
Opposite

FLOWER:
Winter/Spring
White/Yellowish
5-lobed calyx
2-lipped 5-lobed corolla (four-lobed upper lip, one-lobed lower lip)
5 stamens
Inferior ovary

Flowers in peduncled pairs in leaf axils

FRUIT:
Spring
Orange/Red
Berry

 

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!



 


Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME: