FLOWERING PLANT.- AXD FERNS OF ARIZONA So"j 



4. LONICERA. 5 Honeysuckle 



Plants shrubby: stems erect, trailing, or twining; leaf blades broad,, 

 normally entire; flowers in 2's or 3's on axillary peduncles, or in 

 axillary or terminal whorls, these often forming interrupted spikelike 

 inflorescences; corolla nearly regular to strongly bilabiate; fruit 

 berrylike . 



It is stated that the fruits contain saponin and have emetic and 

 cathartic effects. The plants are mostly unpalatable, but some 

 species are browsed. They are, however, regarded with suspicion 

 by stockmen. The fruits are eaten by birds and chipmunks. L. 

 arizonica, which resembles the trumpet or coral honeysuckle of the 

 eastern United States (L. sempervirens L.), is worthy of cultivation 

 as an ornamental climber. 



Key to the species 



1. Flowers in pairs on more or less elongate axillary peduncles; stems erect or 



ascending; branches with solid pith: leaves all petioled, never connate- 



perfoliate; tube of the corolla gibbous or saccate on one side at base, the 



limb nearly regular (2). 



2. Fruits at maturity black, closely enveloped by the glandular-ciliate, broadly 



ovate bractlets, these becoming enlarged and rose red to reddish brown; 



leaf blades ovate or oblong, acuminate at apex, paler but green beneath; 



corolla slightly gibbous, yellow, less than 15 mm. long. 



1. L. IXVOLUCRATA. 



2. Fruits at maturity orange yellow to bright red (rarely dark blue), not 



closely enveloped by the small, glabrous, subulate, green bracts; leaf 



blades oblong, elliptic, ovate, or slightly obovate, obtuse or rounded 



at apex, whitish beneath: corolla strongly gibbous (almost spurred), 



yellowish white, usually more than 15 mm. long^_ 2. L. utahex-is. 



] . Flowers several or numerous in axillary or terminal, whorllike, compound 



cymes, these sometimes aggregated in spikelike inflorescences: stems 



straggling or clambering (seldom twining in the Arizona specie.- : branches 



hollow: uppermost pair or pairs of leaves usually sessile and connate- 



perfoliate, the blades broadly oval, ovate, or nearly orbicular, whitish 



beneath; fruits red at maturity (3). 



3. Corolla coral red outside (often drying purplish), orange within, the limb 



short, only slightly bilabiate, one-fifth to one-fourth as long as the 

 tube, the latter slightly swollen on one side well above the base; sta- 

 mens inserted deep in the corolla tube; leaf blades ciliate, up to 7 cm. 

 long: whorl of flowers single, or the whorls crowded together in a sub- 

 capitate spike, this usually distinctly stalked and not closely subtended 

 by the uppermost pair of leaves: style glabrous or very nearly so. 



3. L. ARIZOXICA. 



3. Corolla whitish or pale yellow, deeply 2-lipped, the lips nearly as long as 

 the tube, the lower lip spreading or reflexed: stamens inserted near 

 the summit of the corolla tube (4). 



4. Bracts more than one-half as long as the ovary: corolla 10 to 15 mm. 

 long, the tube as long as the limb; stems herbaceous above: leaves 

 persistent, the blades commonly glabrous, sometimes pubescent 

 beneath; whorls of flowers several, well separated, forming elongate, 

 interrupted, small-bracted spikes, these terminating the axis and 

 the somewhat elongate branchlets 4. L. ixterrfpta. 



4. Bracts less than one-half as long as the ovary; corolla usually more than 

 15 mm. long, the tube usually longer than the limb; stems woody 

 almost throughout; leaf blades pubescent, at least beneath; whorl 

 of flowers single (if more than one, the whorls so closely crowded as to 

 appear one), borne at the ends of the short branchlets and closely 

 subtended by the uppermost pair of leaves 5. L. albiflora. 



: Reference: Rehder, Alfred, synopsis of the gems lonicera. Mo. Bot. Oard. Ann. Rpt. 14: 

 27-232. 1903. 



