Honeysuckle

One of the most delightful flowers to bloom in the spring is honeysuckle. It is a vine with pretty flowers, and their fragrance permeates the air  — you don't have to stick your nose into the flower to smell it! Even before you see the vines, you know they are nearby because of the wonderful fragrance. One day, perhaps, we will have scratch-and-sniff computer screens so I can share this wonderful scent with all my readers!

The large leaves, above, are not part of the honeysuckle plant, but from other plants nearby. I included that shot because the flowers are so pretty! 😊 The following photo shows the leaves on the honeysuckle vine:

There are several species of honeysuckle that are native to various parts of the world. Although some honeysuckle is indigenous to the US, the most common variety in the southeast is Lonicera japonica, a species that was native to eastern Asia — China, Japan, and Korea — and brought to the US long ago. The vine is a prolific grower, and can easily grow out-of-control if not periodically pruned.

Then the flowers first open, they are white. As time goes on, they turn beige, and then a lovely honey-yellowish color as they age. The long tendrils protruding from the flower are called stamens — the long part is called the "filament" and the little dot on the end is the "anther" which is covered with pollen.

When I was a child, I was told that there was a sweet nectar in the flower which could be tasted by pulling a stamen or two from the flower and putting the bottom-end in the mouth. It is, indeed, sweet, and that honey-tasting nectar is how the flower got its name.