Himalayan Honeysuckle

BUSH INVADER

Leycesteria formosa

family: CAPRIFOLIACEAE

Description

• A many-stemmed upright deciduous shrub from temperate Himalayan regions, 2-4m, with stems which are smooth, round, hollow and bamboo-like. Fast-growing and vigorous. Also called Elisha's Tears.
• Leaves are large, soft, heart-shaped at the base, with a slender point. New growth is red.
• The white tubular flowers (Dec to May) grow in long drooping lantern-like spikes, partly concealed by deep reddish-purple bracts. These bracts, which resemble leaves, are found at the base of the flowers.
• Fruit is round purplish-black fleshy berry,
  10 mm (autumn), containing more than 100 small seeds.

Dispersal

Spread mainly by birds, which excrete the seeds, and also by water, machinery, the movement of soil, and by garden waste dumping.

Impact on Bushland

Introduced by birds deep into fragile and sensitive moist bushland, forms thickets, creates dense shade, displaces native vegetation.

Distribution

Upper Blue Mountains.

Alternative Planting

Native Plants
Blueberry Ash (Elaeocarpus reticulatus) to 8m
Lillypilly (Acmena smithii) to 10m
smaller local Bottlebrushes eg Callistemon citrinus (try the pink swamp form)
local shrub Grevillea (G. acanthifolia)

Exotic alternatives
Shrubs with showy flowers:
Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia)
Camellias

Control

Remove fruit, wrap and send to tip. Cut and paint stems, or dig out.

Himalayan Honeysuckle forms dense thickets in sensitive bushland habitats such as swamps and creeklines, shading out native plants and preventing the germination of their seeds.
photo: © Barbara Harley