Lonicera periclymenum L.
English honeysuckle
Deciduous, scrambler or low climber. Stems glabrous, except towards infl., ± purplish where exposed to direct sun. Lvs subsessile or very shortly petiolate, 3-9 × 2-6 cm, ovate, or narrowly to broadly elliptic, glaucous below, glabrous, entire; base broadly cuneate or rounded; apex obtuse to acute; upper-most lvs just below infl. small, suborbicular, sometimes amplexicaul. Fls fragrant, in a small, glandular-hairy, terminal head of up to 20, sometimes with a smaller subsidiary whorl below; lf pair immediately below peduncle free; peduncles c. 1-50 mm long. Bracteoles 2-4 mm long, suborbicular or orbicular, glandular, < ovaries. Calyx lobes 1-2 mm long, triangular-ovate, densely glandular. Corolla 2.5-3.5 cm long, purplish and usually glandular-hairy but sometimes glabrous outside, white inside; tube 1-2 mm long; limb 2-lipped; lobes becoming reflexed. Stamens exserted. Ovaries separate; style often long-exserted. Fr. not seen.
N.: Volcanic Plateau (near Mangaturuturu); S.: 2 sites near Kumara (Westland); St.: Halfmoon Bay.
Europe, N. Africa 1958
An escape from cultivation into roadside scrub near old settlements and overgrown grassy areas.
FL Dec-Aug.
L. periclymenum is sometimes confused with L. × americana, but, although superficially very similar, L. periclymenum can always be distinguished by the glandular-hairy bracts and peduncle and the free subtending lf pair. The common name woodbine is occasionally used in N.Z.
