LONICERA ETRUSCA

Family and Genus:- See-CAPRIFOLIACEAE/Sect. CAPRIFOLIUM

Common Names:- Etruscan honeysuckle

Homotypic Synonyms:- Caprifolium dimorphum, Caprifolium etruscum,

Lonicera celtiberica.

Meaning:- Lonicera (L) For Adam Lonitzer (1528-86) German physician and

botanist.

Etrusca (L) From Tuscany, the area of the Etruscans.

General description:- Climbing, deciduous sometimes more, or scrambling over

the ground.

Stems:-

1) up to 5m, twining.

Leaves:-

1) 3-8 x 1·5-5 cm, opposite, simple, broadly elliptical or obovate, obtuse or

subacute

at the apex, glaucous or whitish-green and usually minutely puberulent, beneath.

upper pair connate at the base, the next sessile, or short petiolate.

Flower:-

1) From 35-45 mm long, bilaterally symmetrical, united together by 6-20 in stalked

terminal clusters, yellow to whitish with purple marks, very fragrant.

1) Corolla, 2 lipped,

a) upper, narrow tubed, lengthened at the base, without hairs, with 4 lobes.

2) Calyx, very short.

a) teeth, a little acute in their upper part.

Fruit:-

1) Berries, 8-10 mm, red when ripe.

key features:-

1) At least the first pair of leaves below the inflorescence connate.

2) Flower-heads, pedunculate.

Click here for a glossary of terms used.

Habitat:- Open shrubby vegetaion, scrub, open woodland, hedgerows, banks and

roadside thickets. 0-900(-1600),

Distribution:- Widespread and common throughout the Mediterranean region and

Anatolia. Widespread and common on Crete.

Flowering time:- Apr-July.

Photos by:- Steve Lenton