Lonicera involucrata


Lonicera involucrata, the bearberry honeysuckle, bracted honeysuckle, twinberry honeysuckle, Californian Honeysuckle, twin-berry, or 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.
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, ripening in mid-to-late summer.
There are two varieties:
It is often used as an ornamental plant. It is resistant to air pollution, and can be kept in a large garden. The berries may be edible or very unpalatable, or even poisonous. Some bears eat them, but the plants are not abundant enough to be a staple food of wildlife.

Images