Honeysuckle Lonicera periclymenum - Wildflowers of The Western Isles
During the summer months you can see these lovely wildflowers opening into flower on the islands, they are wildflowers that are native to the Western Isles.
Many people would not think of the honeysuckle as a wildflower as throughout Britain many persons only see it in individuals gardens, however it really is so nice to see it here growing wild, a real Hebridean wildflower!
Lonicera periclymenum is a tough woody deciduous shrub, a climber that can clamber high up and indeed the specimens shown on this page were from a beautiful plant seen wedged into the rock face crevices quite high up at LIngerbay, Isle of Harris. This perennial often grows on coastal rock faces. What a mass of cascading flowers they were - what a sight!
The winding stems are reddish at first but become brown and woody with age, The oval leaves are matt green with a bluish tinge and cover the plant through to late autumn.
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Yellow Honeysuckle at Lingerbay - Isle of Harris |
Description
The stem of the honeysuckle plant twines clockwise around supporting plants, and flowers throughout the summer. The flowers are in flat clusters, each one with a long, thin tube and wide flared lips, with protruding stigmas and stamens, pale yellow with red streaks on the outside of the tube
The flowers are 3-5cm long, tubular with two lips and arranged in a whorl of stems which turn silver-grey as the summer progresses
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Leaves
The honeysuckle plant has deep bluish green rounded leaves in pairs up the stem.
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Yellow or Pinky Red Perennial
-Here in the hebrides, we get either the yellow honeysuckle or the pinky red variety of lovely yellow wildflowers - Poisonous Red Berries
These flowers are perennials which flower throughout the summer. The flowers need sunlight in order to flower. During the months August and September the plant bears the fruit of the red berries - which are poisonous.The red berries attract coal tits, thrushes and robins. Many of the flowers are slightly scented
Moths Attracted to These Flowers
Moths are attracted to the flowers during the evenings especially spectacular hawk-moths and other insects.
Attracts Wildlife
Honeysuckle provides nest sites for small birds. Strips of the bark are sometimes taken by blackbirds, house sparrows and even pied flycatchers and used in building the birds nests.The wildflowers particularly attracts bees and butterflies also.
Common Names - woodbine, eglantine, lady's fingers, goats leaf, fairy trumpets
The honeysuckle is often referred to as lady's fingers for obvious reasons when you look at the fingerlike flowers. Also known as woodbine, fairy trumpets, sweet suckle, goats leaf, trumpet flowers. The poet Milton and the writer Chaucer amongst others referred to honeysuckle as Eglantine, a name more commonly attributed to the sweet briar rose by modern herbalists and people everywhere, except apparently for those in North Yorkshire where honeysuckle is said to still go by the name of Eglantine.
Honeysuckle - Lonicera family
The name of the family that honeysuckle belongs to or genus is Lonicera which was attributed to the honeysuckle family by Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778), the Swedish botanist, in honour of the German botanist Adam Loncier (1528-1586). There are over 180 different varieties of honeysuckle ranging from short evergreen shrubs with no flowers to the vigorous, wonderfully-scented climbers
Honeysuckle for Affection and Love
Honeysuckle is said to be a symbol of fidelity and affection. Wearing honeysuckle flowers(though who now would wear them!) was said to enable the wearer to be able to dream of their true love. In Sussex, these were thought to bring luck, especially to young men who were courting.
United in Love
As it cling so much in the past honeysuckle was said to depict , 'we are united in love,' and stress the bond of devotion and affection between two people.
Dreams Too Risque
In the Victorian era young girls were prevented from bringing honeysuckle into the home because it was believed to cause dreams that were far too risque for their sensibilities.
Honeysuckle Uses - Walking Sticks - Pot Pourri - Cosmetics - Pipes
The wood was used to make walking sticks because of its nature to grow around and entwine saplings. Honeysuckle , because of its scent is used in pot-pourri and herb pillows and scented cosmetics are made from the fresh flowers.
The flowers are also used in making teas, vinegars, jams, jellies. The flowers are also used for cake decorating and for making country wine.THe flowers are also used in herbal cough medicine.
The wood of the fly honeysuckle is extremely hard, and the clear portions between the joints of the stems, when their pith has been removed, were said by Linnaeus to be utilized in Sweden far making tobacco-pipes
Japanese Honeysuckle
Japanese honeysuckles even more toxic to some creatures, like fish. Hunting tribes have traditionally put large quantities of them in streams, lakes etc. in order to stupefy or kill the fish
Celtic Folklore Connections
Called woodbine in Celtic folklore the honeysuckle is often mentioned in connection with the lapwing bird, a member of the plover family. The lapwings of course are birds which are frequently seen in the Hebrides.
Famous Painting
In the 1600's Paul Rubens, a Baroque painter, created a painting called the Honeysuckle Bower. It was in honour of his marriage to Isabella Brant. In the painting the pair sit together in a bower surrounded by honeysuckle as a symbol of undying love.
Shakespeare - Midsummer Nights Dream
Shakespeare pays great attention to the honeysuckle or woodbine as it was then called. In Act 2 - he says the following:-
I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,
Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows,
Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine,
With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine:
There sleeps Titania sometime of the night,
Lull’d in these flowers with dances and delight.
Honeysuckle - Witchcraft Protection
It was also used as a magical plant to protect against witchcraft. In Scotland, it was said that if honeysuckle grows around the entrance to the house, it would prevent a witch from entering.the premises. Honeysuckle is also said to protect you from any evil, being you good lick and even money
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