Bush Honeysuckles
Exotic bush honeysuckles, brought here for landscaping and erosion control, are highly invasive, rapidly overtaking a site, forming a dense shrub layer that crowds and shades out native plant species. While their fruits are rich in carbohydrates, they don’t contain the the high-fat, nutrient-rich food sources of our native berries that are needed by migrating birds.
Native bush honeysuckles found in New York include American Fly Honeysuckle and Northern Bush-honeysuckle. A good way to tell native from invasive is by their stems: native species have solid stems, while the mature stems of invasives are hollow. Types of invasive bush honeysuckles found in New York are Amur, Morrow’s, Tatarian, and Japanese. Berries are generally red or reddish-orange.
