HONEYSUCKLE 33 



Honeysuckle when young twines spirally round the support, and 

 thus carries up its foliage to the light. In old plants the main 

 stem will be found wound round the supporting stem, and often 

 cutting deeply into this and injuring it. 



The leaves fall off in autumn, but the new buds will be found 

 beginning to unfold their leaves very early in the spring. The 

 shoots developed from these buds bear the foliage-leaves in the 

 summer, and often end in inflorescences. The Honeysuckle comes 

 into flower about June, and can be obtained from this month 

 onwards through the summer. If shoots of the plant bearing 

 inflorescences are examined the smaller leaves, which enclosed the 

 bud, will be found crowded together at the base. Following 

 upon these come pairs of foliage-leaves, which alternate at the 

 successive nodes and gradually increase in size on passing upwards, 

 to diminish in size again below the inflorescence. The leaves are 

 similar, and have a simple oval leaf-blade, but the lower ones have 

 short stalks which are wanting in the upper ones. There are no 

 stipules. The leaf-blade has a distinct midrib, from which lateral 

 veins spring, and the fine network formed by the smaller veins 

 can be very clearly seen. The upper surface is of a much darker 

 green tint than the lower surface. The general appearance of the 

 leaves on a small flowering shoot is represented in Fig. 2 of the 

 accompanying coloured plate. 



The inflorescence consists of a variable number of closely 

 crowded flowers. At the base stand two small bracts alternating 

 in position with the uppermost pair of foliage-leaves. The two 

 lowest flowers stand in the axils of these bracts. To either side 

 of each of these flowers in the axils of a minute bracteole another 

 flower is borne. Each of these flowers has a pair of bracteoles. 

 Above this tier of flowers comes a second similar tier, while in the 

 centre of the inflorescence is the arrested tip of the shoot. The 

 appearance of the inflorescence at two ages is shown in Figs, i and 

 2 on the plate. 



Each flower has at the base a small globular green ovary 

 (Plate, Figs. 3, 4, ov), which is thus inferior. Above this comes 

 the small calyx (cal), which is far too small to protect the parts 

 within in the bud. The calyx is composed of five united sepals, 

 the position of which is indicated by the small tooth-like tips. 

 VOL. iv. 3 



