Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles
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'Lonicera sempervirens' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.
A vigorous, climbing shrub, evergreen in mild localities; young shoots glabrous, glaucous. Leaves oval or somewhat obovate, 11⁄2 to 23⁄4 in. long, 3⁄4 to 2 in. wide, rich green and glabrous above, bluish and slightly downy beneath; stalk 1⁄4 in. or less long. One or two of the uppermost pairs of leaves are united and form a circular or oblong disk. Flowers unscented, rich orange scarlet outside, yellower within, 11⁄2 to 2 in. long, produced in three or four whorls (each whorl of usually six flowers), forming a terminal stalked spike. Corolla-tube slender, slightly swollen near the base; the four upper lobes are smaller than the lower one, but the corolla is not markedly two-lipped; style glabrous. Bot. Mag., t. 781.
Native of the eastern and southern United States, reaching as far north as Connecticut and westwards to Texas; introduced in 1656. This beautiful honeysuckle thrives best in the milder parts but is hardier than was once supposed and should succeed with the protection of a wall over much of the British Isles. It received an Award of Merit in 1964.
L. sempervirens is a parent of L. × brownii and L. × heckrottii.