Lonicera ruprechtiana Reg.

A deciduous shrub forming a shapely bush 8 to 10 ft high, branchlets hollow; young shoots downy. Leaves ovate to oblong, pointed (often slenderly so), tapered at the base; 11⁄2 to 4 in. long, 5⁄8 to 11⁄2 in. wide, dark green and downy only on the sunken midrib above, paler and downy beneath; stalk 1⁄4 in. or less long. Flowers not fragrant, produced during May and June in pairs, each pair on a slender downy stalk 1⁄2 to 3⁄4 in. long, borne in the leaf-axils; corolla white at first, changing to yellow, 3⁄4 in. long, glabrous on the outside. Stamens and style hairy. Fruits bright red, 1⁄3 in. wide, rather transparent.

Native of N.E. Asia; introduced to Kew from St Petersburg in 1880. According to Maximowicz, who discovered it, it is sometimes 20 ft high. As a flowering shrub it is pretty, although in no way outstanding amongst the bush honeysuckles. But as I saw it in the Arnold Arboretum in June 1910, laden with its scarlet fruit, it struck me as one of the best in the fine collection then in full fruit-bearing there. It is very hardy, but is subject to injury with us by late spring frosts.