Diervilla lonicera Mill.

vernacular northern bush honeysuckle — species · Caprifoliaceae

USDA: DILO
GBIF: 2888711
Rank: species

northern bush honeysuckle (Diervilla lonicera) — Platephotograph · pnortonCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Shrub
Duration: Perennial
Group: Dicot
Family: Caprifoliaceae Juss.
Genus: Diervilla

§2a

Native status, by region

CAN Canada Native
L48 Lower 48 States Native
SPM St. Pierre & Miquelon Native

§2b

County-level range

· 1 county across 1 state

Legend Native · 1 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: High
Shade: Medium
Moisture use: Low
Fire: High
Salinity: None
Anaerobic: None
CaCO₃: Medium
Hedging: Medium

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: -23 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 135 min.
Precipitation: 32–50 in/yr
pH range: 4.8–7
Root depth: 16 in min.
Fertility need: Medium
Soil texture: coarse, medium

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Multiple Stem
Growth rate: Slow
Lifespan: Long
Mature height: 2.4 ft
Height @ 20 y: 2 ft
Foliage texture: Medium
Foliage colour: Dark Green
Porosity (summer): Dense
Porosity (winter): Moderate
Flower colour: Purple
Fruit colour: Brown
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: None
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Late Spring
Seed abundance: Low
Seed begins: Summer
Seed ends: Summer
Spread rate: Slow
Stratify: No
Propagation: seed, bare root, container

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: No Known Source
Nursery stock: Yes
Browse palatability: Medium
Graze palatability: Low
Palatable, human: No
Lumber: No
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 1 county across 1 state.

Rhode Island view state ↗ 1 N ▾

Providence 44007

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/DILO ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2888711 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T18:27:19Z