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Lonicera ciliosa (Pursh) Poir.

Modern name

Lonicera ciliosa DC.

Synonyms

Caprifolium ciliosum Pursh; C. occidental Lindl.; L. occidentalis (Lindl.) Hook.;

A twining honeysuckle of the same group as L. sempervirens, but differing in having leaves hairy on the margins, but otherwise glabrous; the style also is hairy. Leaves ovate or oval, 2 to 3 in. long, glaucous beneath, the upper pairs united by their bases round the stem. Flowers 114 to 112 in. long, yellow or orange-scarlet, downy outside; they are produced in a terminal stalked spike of one to three whorls. Corolla slightly two-lipped, more so than in L. sempervirens. Fruits red.

Native of western N. America from British Columbia south to N. California and east to Montana and Utah; introduced in 1824. Although rare in gardens it is a fine species, which should be more widely cultivated. It received an Award of Merit when shown by Lady Gurney from her garden in Norfolk in 1919, and is said to be perfectly hardy.

L. arizonica Rehd. – Allied to L. ciliosa, but differing in its smaller leaves (up to 134 in. long), more slender and more strongly two-lipped corollas and glabrous styles. Native of Arizona and New Mexico; introduced to Europe by Purpus in 1900. It was in cultivation at Borde Hill in Sussex in 1933 and according to Borde Hill Trees (p. 139) is a very beautiful species and a far better garden plant than L. sempervirens.



From the Supplement (Vol. V)

L. arizonica – This species, described in 1902, is really very near to the following and perhaps not specifically distinct:

L. pilosa (H.B.K.) DC. Caprifolium pilosum H.B.K. – Leaves thicker than in L. arizonica, typically pilose on the veins beneath, usually acute (but sometimes glabrous and obtuse as in L. arizonica); bracteoles longer; corolla-tube longer and broader. Native of north-west Mexico; described in 1818. Seed was collected by Keith Rushforth in 1974 in Coahuila from plants with orange-red corollas 2 in. long, the flowers twelve to thirty-five in tight, pendent whorls (KR 523). It is evidently as beautiful as L. arizonica.

Genus

Lonicera

Other species in the genus