CROATIAN FLORA 2008 - ENDEMIC PLANTS - SWEET HONEYSUCKLE

Sweet Honeysuckle (Lonicera glutinosa Vis.) order: Dipsacales family: Caprifoliaceae local, popular names: all the names refer to the glutinous and fragrant characteristics, as well as specific berry-like shapes English name: Honeysuckle German name: Echtes Gei?blatt French name: Chevre-feuille The genus Lonicera is represented by 17 species in the Croatian flora. The name of the genus originates from the German pharmacist and botanist A. Lonitzer. The glutinous honeysuckle was first described by the well-known botanist Visiani R. (1801-1878), the author of the all-time work “Flora dalmatica” (1842-1878). This species is also sometimes called by his name: Visiani’s honeysuckle. The plant is an upright deciduous shrub reaching the height of up to two meters. Its twigs are curved and sinuous. The twigs that develop in the current season are light brown, often reddish and sprinkled with dense, short whitish little hairs. The older twigs assume a dirty blackish colour. The wood is compact, yellowish-white, with narrow, light-brown pith, scentless. The buds are oval to round in shape. The leaves are egg-shaped or elliptic, elongated and pointed and wavy (fluttering) in the cross section, on both sides densely groove-like (gland-like) haired and slightly gluey, according to which this species got its popular and also scientific name (from the Latin glutinosus – gluey). The stalk of the leaf is likewise groove-like (gland-like) hairy. The flowers are hermaphroditic and with characteristic features. They are significantly symmetrical (zygomorphic) with a two-lipped corolla. Two flowers develop jointly on a common, densely groove-like (gland-like) stalk. The corolla is yellowish with a reddish nuance or it can have a pink-reddish colour. The fruit is a meaty berry and as it develops from each of the joined flowers the berries, too, appear grown together in pairs. The seeds are egg-shaped. The glutinous honeysuckle blossoms in June and July. The species is spread in stony habitats of the highest mountain tops, in sub-Alpine and Alpine regions, on clearings in the area of beech and white-bark pine forests, in the vegetation of mountainous hollows, among the stone rocks, on the edges of loose sand locations and similar habitats. It reaches the heights of some 1,900 meters above sea level. This endemic species is spread only on the mountains Velebit and Biokovo and on the three-border area of Dalmatia, Herzegovina and Montenegro.