Native Honeysuckle, Lonicera Ciliosa

The native honeysuckles are in bloom, and I couldn't resist taking a photo while I was walking on the Bud Blancher Trail. The orange one shown here is Lonicera ciliosa, and is probably the most common in the local area. It bears the uninspired common name of "Orange Honeysuckle." Other species of Lonicera may be white, cream, yellow, pink, purple, or various combinations of these colours, and may appear either as a vine or a small shrub. They are much loved by hummingbirds for the nectar held deep in their flowers. I have to admit that as a child, I was guilty of pinching off a blossom or two for a sweet treat. I left these for my little birdie friends.

Broom Berries, Yeah, Right...

Day 350: "Well, that's bloody weird," I said aloud when I spotted a tight cluster of orangey-red berries on a sprangly plant. "I've never seen huckleberries do that before!" And then I took a closer look at the plant. It wasn't a huckleberry bush. It was Scotch Broom (Cytisus scoparius) which, as a legume, makes pea pods filled with little black seeds, not bunches of brilliant berries. "What the heck? Waitaminit, that's on a different stem." I followed the vine downward (and it was clearly a vine once I really started analyzing), and eventually arrived at a few sickly leaves about a foot from the ground. "Oh, dumb me!" I said, laughing at myself. "It's a freaking honeysuckle!" Sure enough, once I pushed the tangle of blackberry thorns away from the base, I could see where the honeysuckle vine (Lonicera ciliosa) had come up right beside the main stem of the Scotch Broom, and had taken advantage of the natural trellis. Satisfied that I had laid a major botanical mystery to rest, I moved on. Sometimes Ma likes to play jokes, and she got me good with this one.