Family |
Caprifoliaceae
Lonicera etrusca
Santi
Lonicera etrusca Santi
(First published in Viagg. Montamiata 1: 113; 1795. Treated in Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 3, p. 321; 1983)
Description
Life-form & habit: Climbing shrub, 2–5 m, with stems and leaves glabrous or more or less pubescent; var. hispidula Boiss. with inflorescence-branches glandular-hispid.
Leaves: Glaucous; lower leaves obovate, shortly petiolate; upper and floral leaves connate-perfoliate.
Inflorescence & flowers: Flowers grouped in capituliform glomerules at the tip of branches of similar length, subtended by a short floral leaf, from which arise 3 short peduncles sometimes with a smaller connate bract. Calyx short, with acute teeth. Corolla tube usually curved, 1–3 cm, narrow at base, gradually widening into a funnel below the limb; limb bilabiate; anthers and style markedly exserted. Fresh corolla white flushed with pink, especially towards the apex.
Fruit: Multilocular berry, reddish, turning black on drying.
Flowering and habitat
Phenology: Flowers April–June.
Habitat & elevation: Hedges, rocky places.
Distribution
Lebanese distribution: Tyre (Gaillardot), Ras Jedra (Samuelsson), Beirut (Boissier, Post, Vierhapper), Nahr el-Kalb (Pabot), Nahr Beirut (Mouterde), Nahr Ibrahim near Aqaibé (Mt), Tripoli, Bikfaya, Douma, Dhoûr Choueir, Bouara near ‘Aley, Falougha, Ehden, Dimane, Hasroun, ‘Aïn Zehalta, Qabb Elias, source of Nahr Hasbani.
Syrian distribution: Zebdani (Boissier), Tartous (Gaillardot), ‘Aïn ech-Cha‘ara, ‘Aïn Halakim, Mass‘adi, Quneitra. Var. hispidula: Kessab, Jabal Cassius, Haffé, Slenfé, Zebdani.
Native range: Albania; Algeria; Azores (Pico, Santa Maria, São Jorge); Bosnia-Herzegovina; Bulgaria; Canary Islands (Tenerife); Corsica; Crete with Karpathos; Crimea; Croatia; Cyprus; East Aegean Islands; Former Yugoslavia; France (including Channel Islands and Monaco); Georgia; Germany; Greece; Israel/Palestine; Israel/Palestine–Jordan; Italy (including San Marino and Vatican City); Jordan; Lebanon–Syria; Libya; Madeira (Madeira Island); Montenegro; Morocco; Portugal; Russia (North Caucasus); Sardinia; Sicily (with Malta); Slovenia; Spain (including Gibraltar and Andorra); Switzerland; Syria; Tunisia; Türkiye (Asiatic and European parts); Ukraine (including Crimea). (Euro+Med)
⚠️ Taxonomic note:
A widespread Mediterranean honeysuckle, sometimes confused with Lonicera implexa Aiton, but distinguished by its larger, more elongated flowers and longer corolla tube. The perfoliate upper leaf pair is a key identification feature. Levantine populations are morphologically typical of the Mediterranean form and occasionally cultivated for their fragrant blossoms. Mouterde distinguishes var. hispidula Boiss. (inflorescence-branches glandular-hispid) from the glabrous/pubescent type.