Red and blue fruits of honeysuckles
Photo: Arne Ader
Fly honeysuckle.
| Fly honeysuckle |
Harilik kuslapuu
|
Lonicera xylosteum |
| Blue-berried honeysuckle; honeyberry |
Sinine kuslapuu
|
Lonicera caerulea |
Beautifully glossy, red berries frequently joined and seem juicy – but there are no eaters. Something warns one off, and actually we have to do with quite poisonous berries here.
Different from the fly honeysuckle that can be seen growing everywhere in Estonia, the blue-berried honeysuckle only grows in limited areas on the western islands and as a rare plant in rather wet locations in northern Estonia. The berries are similar but blue; and not poisonous but don’t taste good.
The bushes have similar small, entire-margined and velvety soft leaves.
The fly honeysuckle grows as a common, well-branched bush in the under-storey layer in forests, always preferring a richer soil. Sometimes it forms an almost impenetrable undergrowth, and it isn’t easy to get rid of it. But they add interest to the surroundings and they are good for the nesting of shrub-living birds.
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