northern bush honeysuckle
Diervilla lonicera
The flowers change color from yellow to bright red after pollination, signaling to insects that the nectar reward is gone.
- Scientific name
- Diervilla lonicera
- Taxonomy
- Plantae › Tracheophyta › Magnoliopsida › Dipsacales › Caprifoliaceae › Diervilla
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- stable
- Biome
- forest
- Habitat
- Dry, rocky, or sandy forest understories, clearings, and woodland edges.
- Diet
- Autotrophic (photosynthesis)
- Range
- Eastern North America, Northeast United States, Southeast Canada
- Size
- 0.6 to 1.2 meters tall
- Lifespan
- 10-20 years (clonal colonies live much longer)
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Displacement by invasive exotic honeysuckles and forest canopy closure shading out understory growth.
- Safe to approach?
- Harmless. This plant is safe to approach and touch. Observe its color-changing flowers from any distance. Do not ingest any wild plant parts. If accidental contact causes mild skin irritation, wash the area with soap and water.
Diervilla lonicera , commonly referred to as northern bush honeysuckle , low bush honeysuckle , dwarf bush honeysuckle , or yellow-flowered upright honeysuckle , is a native deciduous shrub found in the northeastern United States and Canada. Its specific epithet, lonicera (the Latin term for ‘honeysuckle’) refers to its similarity in appearance to the true honeysuckles, genus Lonicera .
Photo: Paula Dreeszen, CC-BY, via iNaturalist
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