CAPRIFOLIACE^. 207 



In thickets, woods, and hedges. Common, and generally- 

 distributed. 



England, Scotland, Ireland. Shrub. Summer and Autumn. 



Very similar to L. Caprifolium, but with the leaves longer, 2 to 

 4 inches long, less glaucous beneath, and those of the flowering- 

 shoots not connate. Flowers in more numerous verticels, forming 

 a kind of terminal head or spike, the whorls not separated from each 

 other by large foliaceous connate bracts, which are so conspicuous 

 in L. Caprifolium. Corolla rather longer and more deeply cleft, 

 dull-red outside, yellow within. The style and stamens are longer in 

 proportion. The berries incline more to crimson than to scarlet. 



Common Woodbine. 



French, Chevrefeuille des Bois. German, Deutsche Lonitzere. 



The beauty and exquisite fragrance of this well-known plant make it a favourite 

 everywhere. It is evidently the true Woodbine of the poets, and obtains its name 

 from its habit of twining round the stems of other trees. Milton calls it the " twisted 

 Eglantine," and Shakespeare says, — 



" So doth the Woodbine, the sweet Honeysuckle 

 Gently entwist the maple." 



At the base of its long tubular flower lies the honey, and when the bee cannot reach 

 it, other insects tap it, by making punctures at the base of the tube, and thus regale 

 themselves. In almost every country lane in England from early in June to August, 

 are we delighted with the sweet scent of this pretty climber. Its twining stems, by 

 their powerful constriction of young and soft-wooded trees while growing, often cause 

 the latter to be deeply and spirally furrowed, though this is not often discovered 

 till both are cut down. They turn from left to right, in this respect agreeing with 

 the Tamns and Polygonum Convolvulus, and differing from the great white bindweed 

 and the scarlet-runner, both of which twist from right to left. In summer the leaves 

 are abundantly marked with pale and curving lines and winding tracks, the work of 

 the little grub of some dipterous insect, which in those parts has eaten away the 

 cellular tissue but left the cuticle untouched. No other English leaf, however, leaves 

 such cons])icuous evidences of his activity. 



Shakespeai'e, as if loth to exclude both the familiar names of this favourite plant, 

 brings them together in one beautiful picture. He tells us that Beatrice " lies couched 

 in the Woodbine coverture," and Hero is told to 



" Bid her steal into the pleached bower. 

 Where Honeysuckles ripened by the sun 

 Forbid the sun to enter ; like favoui'ites 

 Made proud by princes that advance their pride 

 Against that power that bred it." 



In the time of Chaucer the Woodbine was considered as the emblem of true love. 

 The bright red berries of the Honeysuckle succeed the fragrant flowers and add a new 

 feature to its beauty. They are a favourite food with birds and are perfectly harmless, 

 unlile many berries of a similarly tempting appearance. 



