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Lonicera morrowii, the Morrow's honeysuckle,<ref name=BSBI07>Template:BSBI 2007</ref><ref>Template:PLANTS</ref> is a deciduous honeysuckle in the family Caprifoliaceae, native to Japan, Korea, and Northeast China. It is colloquially called "bush honeysuckle" in the United States, and is considered an invasive species.

DescriptionEdit

It is a shrub, reaching a height of 2–2.5 m, with oblong leaves 4–6 cm long.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It leafs out quite early in the spring, and in North America is commonly the first deciduous shrub with foliage in March. The flowers are white to pale yellow, and the fruit is a dark red berry 7–8 mm diameter containing several seeds.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The berries, while eaten frequently by birds, are considered poisonous to humans.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

TaxonomyEdit

In cultivation, Lonicera morrowii has hybridized with other shrubby species of Lonicera. Crossed with L. tatarica, it forms the invasive hybrid L. × bella.<ref name=BarnCott74>Template:Cite journal</ref> It can also hybridize with L. ruprechtiana.<ref name=Gree66>Template:Cite journal</ref>

As an invasive speciesEdit

Morrow's honeysuckle is confirmed as a highly invasive species in the northeastern United States.<ref>Distribution map of Lonicera morrowii nps.gov Template:Webarchive</ref><ref>Template:Go Botany</ref> Morrow's honeysuckle thrives at the edges of forests, roads, or other natural or man-made barriers, but is not limited to them, and is found in both mature and disturbed forests.<ref name="Southeast Exotic Pest Plant Council page on Bush Honeysuckle">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In some areas, Morrow's honeysuckle is the dominant plant species, especially in areas of disturbed ecological succession. It is suspected that Lonicera morrowii is allelopathic, and may capitalize on disturbed ecological succession by establishing itself and then preventing the growth of plants underneath it.<ref name="Southeast Exotic Pest Plant Council page on Bush Honeysuckle" /> With a sufficiently established thicket of honeysuckle, even other shade-tolerant, invasive species, such as Fortune's spindle have difficulty growing underneath it, whether due to its suspected allelopathic activity or through soil depletion.<ref name="Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Effects on flora and faunaEdit

Due to its early leafing, Morrow's honeysuckle is particularly harmful to spring ephemerals, flowers that evolved to bloom briefly in the spring before other plants leafed out.<ref name="Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources"/>

Many cedar waxwings' wax spots in the eastern United States have taken on an unusual orange hue in the last 35 years, a phenomenon that has been attributed to Lonicera morrowii.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Invasives Plant Pests Literature Collection: Lonicera morrowii utk.edu Template:Dead link</ref> The chemical involved in this color change is rhodoxanthin, a red dye found in the berries of Morrow's honeysuckle.

ReferencesEdit

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External linksEdit

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