Lonicera xylosteum

Red Honeysuckle ( Lonicera xylosteum )

The honeysuckle or Common Honeysuckle ( Lonicera xylosteum ) is a plant from the family of Honeysuckle ( Caprifoliaceae ). The shiny red berries are inedible and poisonous to humans because of the bitter substance Xylostein. His nickname xylosteum owes the shrub its bone-like wood, from the Greek Xylos, wood ' and osteon, bone '.

Occurrence

The honeysuckle is relatively widespread almost throughout Germany as well as in Europe and western Asia. They are often found in weedy oak and beech forests, also in elm, linden or coniferous mixed forests, in hedges and the bushes, and planted on roadsides. It prefers rich, calcareous soil in shady or semi- shady places.

After Ellenberg she is a half- shade plant, sub-oceanic spreading, a freshness indicator, a weak acid to weak base pointer and a Klassencharakterart the summer deciduous forests and thickets ( Querco - Fagetea ).

Description

The honeysuckle is a deciduous shrub that reaches the plant height of about 1-2 meters. It has hollow branches. The elliptical leaves are pubescent on top and bottom. The yellowish-white single flowers are in pairs on a common stalk. The two ovary of each flower pair are fused together at the base only. It flowers in May and June. The berries are poisonous to humans conspicuously colored red.

Ecology

The honeysuckle is 100-200 cm high; it is a shallow roots and an indigenous Art The flowers are pollinated by hymenoptera such as forest bumblebees. The berry fruit spread either by itself from ( Autochorie ) or need to germinate properly, the intestinal tract of some animals go through ( endozoochory ). The seeds contained in the berries also need cold to germinate. The species is resistant to de-icing salts and is not dogged by the Wild.

Use

The species is always planted in greening measures.

In earlier times, the plant was partially used as a "white" rice broom to broom-making. The "black" broom rice frequently used comes from Betula pendula.

Ingredients

In the plant Xylostein, Xylostosidin, saponins and cyanogenic glycosides have been found.

Toxicity

Poisoning centers are often consulted because of the red fruits, although these are only slightly toxic according to recent research. Symptoms may occur after consumption of about 5 fruits. The effect is rather back to saponins than alkaloids.