Honeysuckle
Honeysuckle
Shrub
A climbing shrub that twines its way up through hedgerows, pouring out a sweet evening scent from trumpet flowers to draw in moths — and a favourite of the dormouse.
💡 Fun Facts
- Honeysuckle is a climber — it twines round and round other plants' stems to haul itself up towards the light.
- Its curved, trumpet-shaped flowers pour out a sweet scent in the evening to call in night-flying moths.
- Dormice love it — they feast on its flowers and strip its bark to weave their summer nests.
📅 Through the Year
- Flowering:June to August
- Fruiting:August to October
Name Story
Lonicera periclymenum
means “Lonitzer's twine-around plant”
What does its name mean?
- Lonicera — Lonitzer's plantnamed after Adam Lonitzer, a German botanist
- periclymenum — the one that winds aroundGreek peri-, 'around' — the old Greek name for honeysuckle
Honeysuckle is named after the German botanist Adam Lonitzer. Its second name, periclymenum, means 'the one that winds around' — and native honeysuckle, or woodbine, is a climber that spirals so tightly up a young tree it can leave a corkscrew mark on the stem.