BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Lonicera utahensis | Utah Honeysuckle 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Utah honeysuckle is a native deciduous shrub that grows 3.2 to 6.6 feet
(1-2 m) tall [13,31,84].  It may form clumps.  Branches are slender and
spreading [81].  Fruit is a small, several-seeded berry [33,39].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Chamaephyte
   Hemicryptophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Utah honeysuckle sprouts from the root crown [19].  It begins sexual
reproduction at 5 to 10 years [37].  Fleshy fruits are dispersed by
birds, rodents, and bears [69].  The seeds of Lonicera species require
stratification before germinating [41].  Utah honeysuckle seeds are
short lived [40].  In a seedbank study in the Blue Mountains of Oregon,
Utah honeysuckle was present at 4 percent frequency in a grand
fir/pachystima habitat type where some trees were 150 years old.  No
seedlings of Utah honeysuckle emerged from soil samples [75]. 


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Utah honeysuckle is found on moist, open or wooded slopes and canyons
[33,59].  It also occurs on glaciofluvial flats or stream valley plains
[35,79].  It occurs from 2,240 to 11,000 feet (683-3,353 m) in elevation
[35,39,78,81,84].

In northern Idaho, Utah honeysuckle was associated with soils of
intermediate depth, 14 to 20 inches (35.6-50.8 cm) [58,69].  There was
no difference in the amount of Utah honeysuckle cover on northern and
southern exposure; it was common on northwestern to eastern exposures
[4,58].  Soil textures may be fine sandy loams to loamy sands
[35,60,68].

Utah honeysuckle occurs in a continental climate that is influenced by
maritime air masses or is semiarid [1].  Precipitation ranges from 28.3
to 45.3 inches (719-1,150 mm) [16,35,79].

Common associated species not mentioned in Distribution and Occurrence
are white spirea (Spiraea betulifolia), ninebark (Physocarpus
malvaceus), Scouler willow (Salix scouleriana), Sitka alder (Alnus
viridis ssp. sinuata), thinleaf huckleberry (Vaccinium membranaceum),
pinegrass (Calamagrostis rubescens), queencup beadlily (Clintonia
uniflora), and sweetscented bedstraw (Galium triflorum) [4,31,34,47].


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Facultative Seral Species

Utah honeysuckle is an important shrub in late seral to climax
communities in mesic coniferous forests [25,71].  It can tolerate
moderate to dense shade and is common beneath relatively closed canopies
[58,69].  Utah honeysuckle was a common understory plant in stands aged
60 to 325 years in the cedar-hemlock/spruce-fir ecotone in Glacier
National Park, Montana [27].  It had similar frequencies (average of 2.4
percent) in stands aged approximately 50 and 400 years [26].  Seedlings
may establish in an early successional stage [37].  Utah honeysuckle
comes in after the herb stage following disturbance in the western white
pine (Pinus monticola) zone in northern Idaho [44].  Under closed
canopies of Douglas-fir-lodgepole pine/northern twinflower (Linnaea
borealis) community types of western Montana, Utah honeysuckle was
sparsely distributed with 3 percent mean cover [30].  In the Swan
Valley, Montana, it was present at 33 percent frequency in immature
(less than 90 years old) grand fir forests and at 67 percent frequency
in old-growth (150 or more years old) stands [1].  Beneath the climax
cedar-hemlock canopy, no Utah honeysuckle occurred.  Under the almost
closed canopies (3 to 5 percent of full sunlight) of Douglas-fir and
western white pine seral stands, Utah honeysuckle was present at 10 to
40 percent frequency [35].  In central Idaho, Utah honeysuckle may be
either a major or minor seral species in different phases of grand
fir/Rocky Mountain maple habitat types [71].  Utah honeysuckle was one
of the dominant shrubs in mid-successional stages (11 to 79 years)
following clearcutting of spruce-fir forest [67].


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Utah honeysuckle leaves expand in late March to early May [14,66].
Flowers bloom April through June [14,59,66].  Fruits mature from June to
September [14,36,81].  Leaves drop in the fall [14,66].
  

Related categories for Species: Lonicera utahensis | Utah Honeysuckle