Leaves oblong (long oval with nearly parallel sides), ovate (egg-shaped, wider toward the base), or widely elliptical (symmetrical oval), ~1-4 cm long, medium green and glabrous (smooth-surfaced) on top, somewhat lighter and pubescent (hairy/downy) below. Leaf margins are entire (smooth) but may have revolute edges (edges that roll under). Plant is a shrub ~0.1-2.4 m tall, often with a sprawling or trailing habit, sometimes climbing on top of other shrubs in a vinelike manner. Stems are somewhat pubescent (hairy/downy). Inflorescence forms a spike ~2-12 cm long at the end of leafy stem, with interruptions of bare rachis (inflorescence axis-stem) among whorls of flowers along the spike (that is, >2 flowers attached to a common node on the rachis). The flowers are sessile, attaching to the rachis without a pedicel-stalk. The calyx tube is very short, oval, and split into 5 very small lobes. The flower corolla is tubular, ~1 cm long, cream to yellow in color, divided strongly into 2 lips with 2-3 petal lobes on each, curving backwards, sometimes rather tightly, exposing 5 long stamens with yellow anthers (pollen-bearing structures), and the style of the pistil protrudes past them. The flower is a little glandular/sticky. Intensely and pleasantly fragrant. Blooms from April through June. The fruit is a red or yellow berry, round, just under 1 cm in diameter. Unlike some species of honeysuckle, the berries of this species are edible (but be absolutely certain of your species identification before tasting a berry!). Grows on dry slopes from sea level to 1800 m in elevation. Found on dry slopes, usually in chaparral, on the central and southern coast of California (including the Channel Islands), the Central Coast, Transverse, Tehachapi, and Peninsular ranges, and in the northernmost Sierra Nevada and its foothills.
Lonicera subspicata (Caprifoliaceae): honeysuckle or chaparral honeysuckle or southern honeysuckle or moronel
The development of this key was partially funded through the Geoscience Diversity Enhancement Program (Award #0703798) and through a course of re-assigned time provided by the CSULB Scholarly and Creative Activities Committee. Thanks also to the students in sections of biogeography, introductory physical geography, GDEP, and LSAMP for "test-driving" various editions of this key.