[Honeysuckles and Twinberries: The Genus Lonicera East of the Cascade Mts. of Oregon and Washington]

Rocky Mountain Honeysuckle, Rocky Mt. Twinberry, Red Twinberry, Utah Honeysuckle

Lonicera utahensis

Synonym: Lonicera ebractulata

Close-up of the paired flowers of Rocky Mountain Honeysuckle, Rocky Mt. Twinberry, Red Twinberry, Utah Honeysuckle: Lonicera utahensis (Synonym: Lonicera ebractulata)

The photo above shows a close-up of the twin flowers of red twinberry as seen just below the slopes of Chewelah Peak in the Colville N.F.........June 23, 2006. Note the assymetrical base to each flower.

Paired red fruits of Rocky Mountain Honeysuckle, Rocky Mt. Twinberry, Red Twinberry, Utah Honeysuckle: Lonicera utahensis (Synonym: Lonicera ebractulata)The photo at right shows a close-up of the bright red fruit of Rocky Mt. twinberry as seen along the Tucannon River Trail in the Tucannon-Wenaha Wilderness of southeastern Washington........................June 22, 2007.
Characteristics:

Also known as Rocky Mt. twinberry, red twinberry is a shrub with a number of stems from 1-2 meters high. The short-petiolate leaves are elliptic, ovate or oblong in shape with subcordate bases and obtuse to rounded tips. They range from 2-8 cm and 1-4 cm wide. The upper leaf surface is glabrous with the lower surface glabrous to covered with coarse or stiff hairs.

The white to whitish-yellow flowers are in pairs at the ends of the stems. The flowers are pendent and are narrow at their base and flair outwards at their openings (funnel-shaped). The base of the tube is slightly spurred. Individual flowers range from 1-2 cm in length and are slightly two-lipped, the lobes of the corolla being slightly unequal in size. The fruit are bright red berries about 1 cm thick.


Habitat:

Red twinberry is found on moist open to wooded slopes from moderate to high elevations in the mountains.


Range:

Red twinberry may be found from southern British Columbia south to northern California and east to Alberta and hence south to Montana, Wyoming and Utah. It is absent from the Coast Range of Oregon but may be found in the Olympic Mts. of Washington.


Rocky Mountain Honeysuckle, Rocky Mt. Twinberry, Red Twinberry, Utah Honeysuckle: Lonicera utahensis (Synonym: Lonicera ebractulata) - Rocky Mountain Honeysuckle, Rocky Mt. Twinberry, Red Twinberry, Utah Honeysuckle: Lonicera utahensis (Synonym: Lonicera ebractulata)

Utah honeysuckle in bloom at Fields Springs State Park, Asotin County, WA.........May 24, 2010.

Leaves of Rocky Mountain Honeysuckle, Rocky Mt. Twinberry, Red Twinberry, Utah Honeysuckle: Lonicera utahensis (Synonym: Lonicera ebractulata)

The conjoined fruit of Rocky Mountain Honeysuckle, Rocky Mt. Twinberry, Red Twinberry, Utah Honeysuckle: Lonicera utahensis (Synonym: Lonicera ebractulata) - Rocky Mountain Honeysuckle, Rocky Mt. Twinberry, Red Twinberry, Utah Honeysuckle: Lonicera utahensis (Synonym: Lonicera ebractulata)

Utah honeysuckle as seen in coniferous woods at the end of the 100 road south of Old Toroda, Okanogan National Forest.........July 10, 2015.

Maturing fruit on Rocky Mountain Honeysuckle, Rocky Mt. Twinberry, Red Twinberry, Utah Honeysuckle: Lonicera utahensis (Synonym: Lonicera ebractulata) - Maturing fruit on Rocky Mountain Honeysuckle, Rocky Mt. Twinberry, Red Twinberry, Utah Honeysuckle: Lonicera utahensis (Synonym: Lonicera ebractulata)

Utah honeysuckle with maturing fruits as seen in woods along the Lick Creek Trail #231, Hells Canyon National Recreation Area........August 11, 2018.

Rocky Mountain Honeysuckle, Rocky Mt. Twinberry, Red Twinberry, Utah Honeysuckle: Lonicera utahensis (Synonym: Lonicera ebractulata)

Maturing fruits of Utah honeysuckle as seen along the Lick Creek Trail #1809 at one of several stream crossings, Hells Canyon National Recreation Area.......July 17, 2019.

Rocky Mountain Honeysuckle, Rocky Mt. Twinberry, Red Twinberry, Utah Honeysuckle: Lonicera utahensis (Synonym: Lonicera ebractulata) - Paired flowers of Rocky Mountain Honeysuckle, Rocky Mt. Twinberry, Red Twinberry, Utah Honeysuckle: Lonicera utahensis (Synonym: Lonicera ebractulata)

Red twinberry from Emmigrant Springs State Park east of Pendleton, OR...........May 30, 1999.

Paul Slichter