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Japanese Honeysuckle
Lonicera japonica
スイカズラ
A climbing evergreen shrub found at forest edges and roadsides. The flowers open white and gradually turn yellow, giving rise to the Chinese name "gold-and-silver flower." The Japanese name means "sucking nectar" as children traditionally sipped the sweet nectar from the flowers. The flowers are used in traditional Chinese medicine.
Identification Points
- ✓Flowers change from white to yellow (origin of the name "gold-and-silver flower")
- ✓Bilabiate flowers with sweet nectar; children traditionally sip nectar from the flowers
- ✓Twining vine that climbs over other plants; leaves are semi-evergreen to evergreen
Habitat
Forest edges, roadsides, and grasslands
Season
May–July (flowers)
3D Specimen Model
Kyushu University, Shikano Lab (CC0)
View on Sketchfab→Morphological TraitsAI-estimated, needs verification
Leaf arrangement
Opposite
Leaf type
Simple
Venation
Pinnate
Leaf margin
Serrate
Leaf shape
Ovate
Growth form
Vine
Evergreen/Deciduous
Evergreen
Petal count
5 petals
Petal fusion
Fused
Habitat
Forest
Ovary position
Inferior
Phylogenetic Positionスイカズラ科 →
Phylogenetic Position
Angiosperms > Eudicots > Core eudicots > Dipsacales > Caprifoliaceae
Divergence Era
Late Cretaceous to Paleogene
Evolution Notes
Under the APG system, Caprifoliaceae was reorganized into a broadly defined family that now includes the former Valerianaceae and Dipsacaceae.
View on evolution timeline →Sources & References
AI-generated, needs verification