Lonicera involucrata

Lonicera involucrata
File:Lonicera involucrata ledebourii.jpg
Variety ledebourii
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Dipsacales
Family:	Caprifoliaceae
Genus:	Lonicera
Species:	L. involucrata
Binomial name
Lonicera involucrata (Richardson) Banks ex Spreng.
Synonyms
Lonicera ledebourii Eschsch.

Lonicera involucrata (bearberry honeysuckle, bracted honeysuckle, twinberry honeysuckle, Californian Honeysuckle, twin-berry, black twinberry) is a species of honeysuckle native to northern and western North America, from southern Alaska east across boreal Canada to Quebec, and south through the western United States to California, and to Chihuahua in northwestern Mexico. It grows at elevations from sea level to 2,900 m.

File:Lonicera involucrata fruit1.jpg

In fruit

File:Lonicera involucrata 6504.JPG

Varitey involucrata

It is a large shrub that can grow 0.5–5 m high, with shoots with a quadrangular cross-section. The leaves are elliptic, to oval-shaped, 3–16 cm long and 2–8 cm broad; they are hairy along the margins and on the underside, and have a distinctive abruptly acuminate tip. The flowers are yellow, tubular, hairy, 1–2 cm long, and are monoecious; they are produced in pairs subtended by a pair of reddish basal bracts 2–4 cm across. The fruit is a 6–12 mm diameter black berry containing several small seeds;

There are two varieties:

• Lonicera involucrata var. involucrata. Most of the species' range, except as below; in California only in the Sierra Nevada. Leaves thin; flowers yellow.
• Lonicera involucrata var. ledebourii (Eschsch.) Jeps. Coastal California and southern Oregon. Leaves thick, leathery; flowers tinged orange to red outside.

Cultivation and uses

It is often used as an ornamental plant. It is resistant to air pollution, and can be kept in a large garden. It may be edible or very unpalatable, or even poisonous.