Lonicera caerulea, also known by its common names blue honeysuckle, sweetberry honeysuckle, fly honeysuckle, blue-berried honeysuckle, or the honeyberry, is a non-climbing honeysuckle native throughout the cool temperate Northern Hemisphere.
Lonicera caerulea is a circumpolar, multi-branched, deciduous shrub that is native to moist boreal forest areas, mostly in peaty soils, in northern temperate climates in Asia, Europe and North America. This shrub, in general, is unlike many of its honeysuckle relatives in that it produces an edible, tasty, blueberry-like fruit. It typically grows to 4-6’ tall and as wide. Opposite, elliptic to ovate, glaucous green leaves (each to 2-3” long) have slightly wavy leaf margins. Pale yellowish-white flowers (to 5/8” long) bloom in late spring to early summer (April-June) in pairs along the shoots. Fruits ripen in early summer to deep blue with reddish-purple insides. Fruits are pruinose with an oval-teardrop to almost-globose shape. Variability in growing characteristics results in part from the large geographic distribution of this shrub. It's invasive in North America.
