Bush Honeysuckle, Diervilla lonicera Mill. Native Minnesota Wildflower plant, Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden, Northern Bush Honeysuckle

	Plants of the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden
	Common Name	Scientific Name	Plant Family	Garden Location	Prime Season
	Northern Bush Honeysuckle	Diervilla lonicera Mill.	Honeysuckle (Caprifoliaceae)	Upland	Late Spring to Late Summer
Other names and notes	A small shrub, from 1 to 3 feet high, with 3/4" long yellow funnel shaped flowers with five stamens, the inside of the flower tube is hairy; the flowers usually appear in threes from either the leaf axils or at the end of a branch. Flowers can also be reddish in color on the same plant with the yellow flowers. Leaves are opposite, in pairs, oblong with pointed tip and with fine teeth and have attractive fall color. The plant can make a good ground cover due to its suckering habit, which precludes if from being a landscape specimen, but unlike honeysuckles that are in the genus Lonicera, it is not considered invasive. The genus name is for N. Dierville, a French 17th Century doctor. The species name refers to Adam Lonitzer (1528-1586), a German herbalist.




While the flowers are usually yellow, a reddish color flower can appear on the same plant as shown on the example below from the Upland Garden on 7/06/2011

Notes: Eloise Butler first recorded introducing this plant to the Garden on Sept. 4, 1909 with plants obtained from Appleton ME during her summer visit to that local. On May 8, 1910 she planted two additional planted secured from Osceola, WI and again on July 30, 1911 more plants were obtained from a local source. They were present in the Garden in a census taken in 1926. This plant was listed on Martha Crone's 1951 inventory of plants in the Garden at that time. It is native to counties in Minnesota that are in the eastern 2/3rds of the state north of the metro area, and south of the metro it is found in the SE Counties.

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References: Plant characteristics are generally from sources 15, 16, 30, 31, 33, W2 & W3. Distribution principally from W2 and also 31, 34 and W1. Planting history generally from 1, 4 & 4a. Other sources by specific reference. See Reference List for details.

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