An Assessment of Japanese Honeysuckle in Northern U.S. Forests

This publication is part of a series that provides an overview of the presence of invasive plant species monitored on an extensive systematic network of plots measured by the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program of the U.S. Forest Service, Northern Research Station (NRS). Each research note features one of the invasive plants monitored on forested plots by NRS FIA in the 24 states of the midwestern and northeastern United States. Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) is native to east Asia and arrived in Long Island, NY, in 1806. In 1862, a horticultural variety of Japanese honeysuckle, called Hall’s honeysuckle, was found in Flushing, NY. This vigorous invader was promoted for wildlife habitat and erosion control as well as for a landscape plant; its sale is now illegal in some states (Kaufman and Kaufman 2007).