Weeds of Australia - Fact Sheet

Top Scientific Name Family Common Names Origin Naturalised Distribution Notes

Scientific Name

Lonicera periclymenum L.

Family

Caprifoliaceae

Common Names

common honeysuckle, European honeysuckle, honeysuckle, perforate honeysuckle, woodbine, wormwood

Origin

Native to north-western Africa (i.e. Morocco) and southern Europe (i.e. France, Portugal, Spain, Albania, Greece, Italy and Yugoslavia).

Naturalised Distribution

Sparingly naturalised in Tasmania and possibly naturalised in inland southern New South Wales and northern Queensland.

Also naturalised overseas in northern USA (i.e. in Oregon, Washington and Maine).

Notes

European honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum) is a common garden plant in the temperate regions of Australia. It has occasionally escaped cultivation and is regarded as an environmental weed in Tasmania and as a "sleeper weed" in other parts of southern Australia.

This species has become established in some wetter habitats in Tasmania, including in some conservation areas. For example, European honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum) is regarded as an invasive environmental weed on King Island, where it occasionally grows in bushland along roadsides in the Pegarah area. It is also a weed species in Wellington Park in the Wellington Range in south-eastern Tasmania.

There are also anecdotal reports and unconfirmed observations of this species being naturalised at Wagga Wagga in inland southern New South Wales and in the wet tropics region in northern Queensland.