Lonicera nummulariifolia Jaub. & Spach subsp. occidentalis (Pamp.) Brullo & Furnari
Eng.: Honeysuckle. Spa.: Madreselva. Fre.: Chèvrefeuille.
Hermaphrodite shrub, up to 9 m in height, highly branched, erect, not climbing. Stems and old branches with highly fissured bark, greyish-brown. Young branches puberulent or hairy-glandular. Leaves opposite, with petiole 1.5-3.5 mm, hairy, and leaf blade 1.5-5 × 0.7-3.5 cm, ovate-lanceolate, ovate or suborbicular, obtuse or mucronate, laxly pubescent or puberulent on both sides, with eglandular hairs. Inflorescences axillary, with 2 flowers each, on peduncles of 1-3 mm, and bracts and bracteoles c. 1 mm, shorter than the ovary, linear-lanceolate. Corolla 10-20 mm, yellow or white-yellowish, pubescent on the outside, bilabiate, with straight tube and approximately half the length of the flower, upper lip with 4 lobes and simple lower lip. Androecium with 5 exserted stamens. Berries blackish at maturity.
Flowering:
April to June.
Fruiting:
May to August.
Habitat:
Clearings in forests and thickets in high mountain.
Distribution:
SE of Europe (Greece and Crete) and SW Asia. Represented in North Africa by the subsp. occidentalis, endemic to Libya (Cyrenaica), to which the above description corresponds.
Conservation status:
Fairly rare species with a small distribution areas. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.