I have some unknown to me plants growing on my property in the West Kootenays region of BC, in Crescent Valley, plant hardiness zone 5a. One of them is a rather very delicate looking shrub that develops delicate trumpet shaped blooms in May, turning into red irregular in shape berries in July. Another is a robust evergreen, smothered with fragrant, honey-scented flowers early in June. Both grow here in sandy soil, in hot and dry conditions. Thanks in advance. And thanks Ron for your instant answer to my previous inquiry.
Photos not enlarging readily this time but likely the first is Lonicera involucrata and the second is Ceanothus velutinus.
Thanks a lot again Ron. The second plant is Ceanothus velutinus for sure. The pictures of Lonicera involucrata I looked at on the Internet look a little different though from the plant I have, especially the colours and shapes of flowers and berries are different. It can be some kind of Lonicera, Lonicera caerulea looks more similar, if not for the berries. I suppose I have to wait until spring and summer to take better pictures to make identifying easier.
about the Lonicera species Lonicera involucrata has got black berries, not red berries. So if the first shrub is an indigenous species, then it is Lonicera utahensis. And as far as I can see on the rather tiny photographs this species is a good match.
Yes, the pictures of Lonicera utahensis match my plant very well. Thanks Robert. Are the berries edible?
The berries might in fact be edible because they were sometimes eaten by indigenous people (see e.g. http://herb.umd.umich.edu/herb/search.pl?searchstring=Lonicera+utahensis), even though not in your area. I am not sure, however, whether this means that it is advisable to eat them. In my area most if not all of the Lonicera species are considered toxic, potentially toxic or inedible, even though I read about a cultivated variety of Lonicera caerulea with edible berries lacking the usual extremely bitter taste.
I got the second picture to enlarge, so I could see it was in fact showing red berries and not red bracts. The red bracts of twinberry honeysuckle have a similar outline to the berries shown in your picture. (The two species also produce different leaves). Otherwise I would have expected Utah honeysuckle to be a candidate since you are in the interior. It also comes out near the coast, Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic Mountains for instance.
Thank you both. I will try how the berries of my Utah honeysuckle taste. Here in Canada Lonicera caerulea var. kamtschatica is growing in popularity as a garden plant. It is a native of Asia. It is said to have very tasty berries.
