Lonicera similis Hemsl.

var. delavayi (Franch.) Rehd.

This variety was sent to Kew in 1907 from France by Maurice de Vilmorin, who had received it from W. China in 1901, and with whom it first flowered three years later. It is an evergreen climber of the L. japonica group. Its leaves are ovate-lanceolate, rounded or slightly heart-shaped at the base, taper-pointed, 2 to 5 in. long, {3/4} to 2 in. wide, glabrous above, grey felted beneath; stalk {1/6} to {1/4} in. long. Flowers sweet-scented, in axillary pairs, and at the end of the shoot forming a kind of panicle. The corolla is pale yellow, and has a very slender cylindrical tube 2 in. long, and a two-lipped apex; the larger lip {3/4} in. long, with four short lobes, the smaller one linear; calyx-lobes awl-shaped, edged with hairs. It was originally discovered in Yunnan by the Abbé Delavay, in 1888. It flowers in August. Bot. Mag., t. 8800.

Lonicera similis var. delavayi smothered in flowers.

Leaves of Lonicera similis var. delavayi are ovate-lanceolate and evergreen. Kestellic garden, Plouguiel, Brittany, France. 4 July 2022. Image Guillaume Mamdy.

Lonicera similis var. delavayi was discovered in Yunnan by Abbé Delavay in 1888. Kestellic garden, Plouguiel, Brittany, France. 4 July 2022. Image Guillaume Mamdy.

Lonicera similis var. delavayi first flowered in Europe at Kew in 1910, three years after seeds were send by Maurice de Vilmorin. Kestellic garden, Plouguiel, Brittany, France. 4 July 2022. Image Guillaume Mamdy.

Leaf of Lonicera similis var. delavayi is grey felted beneath. Kestellic garden, Plouguiel, Brittany, France. 4 July 2022. Image Guillaume Mamdy.