_Honeysuckle Family_
Shrubs, trees, vines or perennial herbs with opposite leaves and mostly
cymose flowers; calyx 3—5-toothed, the corolla 5-lobed or sometimes
2-lipped; stamens 5-inserted on the tube of the corolla and alternate
with the lobes; fruit a berry, drupe or capsule.
Corolla rotate or urn-shaped; flowers in compound cymes.
Leaves pinnate. =Sambucus.=
Leaves simple. =Viburnum.=
Corolla tubular or campanulate, often 2-lipped.
Creeping, somewhat woody herb; flowers in pairs, pink.
=Linnæa.=
Shrubs, erect or climbing.
Corolla short-campanulate, regular or nearly so.
=Symphoricarpos.=
Corolla tubular and irregular. =Lonicera.=
[Sidenote: =Sambucus pubens= Michx. _Red-berried Elder._]
A shrub 2—12 feet high, the twigs and leaves commonly hairy; stems
woody, the younger with reddish-brown pith. Leaves pinnate with 3—7
ovate-lanceolate or oval, acuminate leaflets 2—5 inches long, sharply
serrate. Flowers numerous, less than ¼ of an inch broad, white, in a
close oblong head 3—4 inches high, longer than broad; berries in a
compact head, bright scarlet, ¼ of an inch in diameter.
Rocky places and thickets throughout the region though most abundant in
the Selkirks; flowering in June, the bright red berries ripe in late
summer.
[Sidenote: =Sambucus melanocarpa= A. Gray. _Black-berried Elder._]
A shrub 2—12 feet high, smooth or the young leaves slightly hairy.
Leaves pinnate with 3—7 or rarely 9 ovate-oblong or ovate-lanceolate,
acuminate leaflets, 2—5 inches long, sharply serrate. Flowers small
white in a close compound cyme 3—4 inches high and as broad; berries ¼
of an inch broad, black and shining in a close head.
Rocky places and thickets in the Selkirks; growing with the other
species and difficult to distinguish from it except by the colour of
the berries.
[Sidenote: =Viburnum pauciflorum= Pylaie. _Few-flowered Cranberry
Tree._]
A straggling bush 2—6 feet high with twigs and petioles smooth or
nearly so. Leaves broadly oval, obovate or broader than long; 5-ribbed,
mostly with 3 rather shallow lobes above the middle, coarsely and
unequally dentate, smooth above, more or less hairy on the veins
beneath, 1½—3 inches broad. Flowers small, pure white or pinkish, ¼
of an inch broad in compact axillary heads an inch or so broad; drupe
globose, bright red, acid, about half an inch long.
A most attractive shrub in thickets and woods at the lower altitudes
throughout the Rockies; flowering in May and early June; the acid fruit
is frequently used for preserving.
[Sidenote: =Linnæa americana= Forbes. _Twin-flower._]
Branches slender, woody, slightly hairy, trailing, 6—24 inches long.
Leaves evergreen, opposite, obovate or orbicular, obscurely crenate,
thick, ¼—¾ of an inch wide, sometimes wider than long. Flowers nodding
in pairs, rarely in 4’s, on slender pedicels ¼—¾ of an inch long, very
fragrant; corolla tubular-campanulate with 5 equal lobes, pink or
nearly white, deep pink within.
In moist cool woods, frequent throughout the region, especially in the
Rockies; flowering in late June and early July.
[Illustration: Linnæa americana Forbes. (¼ Nat.) American Twin-Flower.]
[Illustration: Lonicera ebractulata Rydb. (½ Nat.) Fly Honeysuckle.]
[Sidenote: =Symphoricarpos racemosus= Michx. _Snowberry._]
An erect shrub, 1—4 feet high, smooth or nearly so with slender
branches. Leaves oval, obtuse at each end, 1—2 inches long, entire,
undulate or sometimes dentate. Flowers pale pink or white, few, in
axillary clusters; corolla campanulate, ¼ of an inch long, equally
5-lobed, slightly inflated at the base and bearded within; berries
snow-white, nearly ½ an inch in diameter.
On rocky banks and along streams at the lower altitudes throughout the
Rockies; flowering during July.
[Sidenote: =Symphoricarpos pauciflorus= (Robbins) Britton. _Low
Snowberry._]
A low, spreading, diffusely branched shrub 6—9 inches high. Leaves
broadly oval or orbicular, entire, softly hairy, especially along the
veins beneath. Flowers about ¼ of an inch long, solitary in the upper
axils, and 2 or 3 in the terminal spike; corolla campanulate, 5-lobed,
bearded within; berry globose, white, ¼ of an inch in diameter.
In rocky places and on wooded slopes throughout the Rockies; flowering
in July.
[Sidenote: =Lonicera glaucescens= Rydb. _Douglas’s Honeysuckle._]
Smooth, more or less shrubby or twining. Leaves smooth above, glaucous
and hairy at least on the veins beneath, 1½—2 inches long, papery on
the margins, usually only the upper pair connate-perfoliate. Flowers
in a short terminal interrupted spike, corolla 1 inch long or less,
yellow changing to reddish, slightly hairy without, long-hairy within,
the tube rather strongly inflated at the base, the 2-lipped limb
shorter than the tube, stamens and style exserted.
In rocky places and along river banks throughout the Rockies; flowering
during July.
[Sidenote: =Lonicera ebractulata= Rydb. _Fly Honeysuckle._]
Shrubby, 3—6 feet high with grey bark. Leaves light green, glaucous
and hairy beneath, fringed with hairs on the margins, elliptic-ovate
or broadly ovate, obtuse, rounded or cordate at the base, rounded at
the apex, 1—2½ inches long, ½—1½ inches wide. Flowers in pairs from
the axils of the leaves; peduncles about ½ an inch long; corolla light
yellow, about ¾ of an inch long, funnel-form, and spurred at the base
on the inner side; berry bright red, ¼ of an inch in diameter.
In moist woods throughout the region at the lower altitudes; flowering
in May and early June.
[Sidenote: =Lonicera involucrata= (Richards) Banks. _Involucred Fly
Honeysuckle._]
A nearly smooth shrub 3—10 feet high. Leaves short-petioled, ovate,
oval or obovate, 2—6 inches long, acute or acuminate at the apex,
narrowed or rounded at the base, more or less hairy at least when
young. Flowers greenish-yellow, 2 or 3 on axillary peduncles, 1—2
inches long, bracts foliaceous, ovate or oval, often cordate, bractlets
larger, greenish-yellow, at length turning rich maroon and surrounding
the fruit; corolla hairy, funnel-form; the limb nearly equally 5-lobed;
stamens and styles slightly exserted; berries separate, globose or
oval, nearly black, about ⅓ of an inch in diameter.
In rich moist woods and thickets at the lower altitudes throughout the
region, inconspicuous when in flower in late June and early July, but
especially showy when in fruit, the blue-black berries subtended by the
showy maroon bracts, making it a most striking shrub during summer and
early autumn.
[Illustration: Lonicera involucrata (Richards.) Banks. (⅔ Nat.)
Involucred Fly Honeysuckle.]