48o THE HONEYSUCKLE FAMILY. 



YELLOW HONEYSUCKLE. 



Loiiicera fiava. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Honeysuckle. Deep yellow. Fragrant. Alabama to North Caro- April-June. 



Una and Kentucky. Fruit: September. 



Fhnoers : gxQ)Vi\x\^ in a short, crowded, terminal spike. (7(7/i'x ." minutely five- 

 toothed, contracted at the throat. Corolla : slender ; tubular, deeply two-lipped, 

 the tube not swollen at the base, the limb four-cleft, within pubescent. Stajnens : 

 long exserted. Berries : bright orange-red. Leaves : opposite ; those near the 

 flower united at their bases about the stem ; the lower ones sessile, or with short 

 petioles ; broadly oval, or elliptical ; entire ; bright bluish green above ; glaucous 

 below. Stem : slightly twining to occasional heights of five or six feet, or trailing ; 

 woody, glabrous. 



In a more than usually beautiful genus, the yellow honeysuckle is one of 

 the most lovely and fragrant of all. It grows through the upper districts 

 mainly on mountain slopes, and its many flowers have the look of being 

 subtended by the upper leaves, stiff and united about the stems. That their 

 corolla's limb is so deeply divided gives also these blossoms an open look, 

 full of grace and beauty. 



L. dibica, small yellow honeysuckle, grows through the mountains of 

 North Carolina either in a twining way or as a shrub. Its yellowish green 

 corolla is strongly tinged with purple, and although the flowers are produced 

 numerously in their clusters they are not nearly so attractive as those of 

 Lonicera flava. Especially on the young shoots the leaves display their ten- 

 dency to unite about the stem. 



L. scuiperinrens, trumpet, or coral, honeysuckle, woodbine, shows its 

 gay spirit and energy in its exquisite scarlet, or yellow, flowers which hang 

 gracefully from near the ends of the stalk. Their large tube is narrow and 

 the limb almost regularly lobed. The upper leaves unite about the stem 

 .and are very thick and evergreen through its southern range. The plant is 

 charming also when crowned with its round, scarlet berries. 



L. Japonica, Japanese, or Chinese honeysuckle, might be a lesson to many 

 a native vine of sluggish habit, for most readily it makes its way, covering 

 acres in places and devouring much that would hinder its progress. It has 

 been naturalised from eastern Asia but also has abundantly escaped in such 

 regions as were suited with the soil and climate. All know its white and 

 yellow flowers growing in pairs on short peduncles, and which exhale a fra- 

 grance more sweet, it seems to me, than that of any other flower — a fra- 

 grance for the open air when life is gaily astir in early June. 



