Shrub to 1 m tall Leaves: opposite, short-stalked, 8 - 15 cm long, oblong- lance-shaped to oblong- egg-shaped with long-pointed tip, minutely toothed, fringed with hairs, sometimes hairy beneath. Flowers: in short-stalked clusters of three to seven (mostly three), borne in leaf axils and on branch tips. Sepals five, small. Corolla yellow, turning reddish with age, 1 - 2 cm long, narrow, funnel-shaped or tubular, five-lobed, lobes spreading, hairy within. Stamens usually five. Fruit: a slender, dehiscent capsule, brown, 8 - 15 mm long, long-beaked with thin hairs flaring out at the tip. Twigs: round, slender, greenish red, becoming light brown.

Similar species: The toothed leaves easily distinguish Diervilla lonicera from other Honeysuckles of the genus Lonicera.

Flowering: late May to late August

Habitat and ecology: Occasional in sandy woods. It is also found in shaded places, such as ravines and on rocky slopes.

Occurence in the Chicago region: native

Etymology: Diervilla is named after M. Dierville, a French surgeon that introduced Diervilla lonicera. Lonicera is named after Adam Lonicer (1528-1586), a German botanist and author.

Author: The Morton Arboretum

Shrub to 12 dm; twigs terete; petioles 3-10 mm; lvs oblong-lanceolate to oblong-ovate, 8-15 cm, acuminate, serrulate, ciliate-margined, sometimes also hairy beneath; peduncles 3-7-fld; cal-lobes 4-5 mm; cor 12-20 mm, yellow, turning reddish, hairy within; fr slender, beaked, 8-15 mm, tardily dehiscent; 2n=36. Dry or rocky soil; Nf. to Sask., s. to N.C., Tenn., Ind. and Io. June, July. (D. diervilla)

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

©The New York Botanical Garden. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

From Flora of Indiana (1940) by Charles C. Deam

This shrub grows in very sandy soil about Lake Michigan where it is more or less frequent. South of the lake it becomes very rare. In Fountain and Montgomery Counties a few specimens were found on the crests of wooded sandstone ridges. In slightly acid soil this species does well in cultivation.

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Indiana Coefficient of Conservatism: C = 9

Wetland Indicator Status: n/a