The
photo of orange honeysuckle at right was taken at Conboy Lake National Wildlife
Refuge in south-central Washington............mid-June, 2000.Orange honeysuckle is an attractive flowered perennial vine with a twining nature. Its vines climb through trees and bushes to a height of up to 6 meters. The hollow twigs are blue-green when young and the leaves are opposite. The leaves are elliptical in shape with rounded to acute tips and short petiolate or subsessile at their attachment to the twigs. The leaves range from 4-10 cm long and 2.5-5 cm wide and are green on their dorsal surface and lighter blue-green below. The uppermost leaves may be completely sessile and may appear perfoliate, with the stem passing through the center of what appears to be one leaf (See photo at right).
The inflorescence is a dense, short cluster of orange-yellow to orange-red tubular flowers. The corollas range from 2.5-4 cm long and are shallowly lobed and slightly two-lipped. The tube is typically 3-4 times longer than the lips and is also swollen on one side above the base. The fruits are red and nearly 1 cm in diameter.
Orange honeysuckle makes an attractive climbing vine for the woodland garden. Its flowers are especially attractive to hummingbirds.
Orange honeysuckle is found in open woods and thickets from sea level to moderate elevations in the mountains.
Orange honeysuckle may be found from southern British Columbia south to northern California and is found eastward to western Montana. It is especially abundant west of the Cascade crest.
In the Columbia River Gorge it may be found between the elevations of 100'-3400' from the Sandy River east to the Klickitat River.
