What does inedible honeysuckle look like and how to distinguish it from edible

Honeysuckle has long ceased to be an outlandish plant. Every year more and more summer residents plant it in their garden plots. The culture is unpretentious in cultivation, adapts to any climatic conditions, pleases with an early harvest. Delicious jams and compotes for the winter, vitamin tinctures and decoctions are prepared from blue fruits. Consider what types of shrubs exist, how not to confuse blue honeysuckle and wolf berries, which one is poisonous.

Is all honeysuckle edible

Exist edible and decorative honeysuckle... If the word "edible" speaks for itself, then decorative honeysuckle berries for food and use in cooking (as a topping or decoration) are not suitable. They are inedible and even poisonous, and therefore dangerous to life and health.

What honeysuckle looks like

It is easy to distinguish edible common honeysuckle from inedible; the main thing is to know the features of each species.

The decorative one is distinguished by multi-colored flowers and a thick fluffy crown.

Edible

Edible varieties are grown in the garden or in the country. The berries are used for making desserts or consumed fresh. The taste of honeysuckle is original: bitter and tart, sweet and sour. Depending on the variety, acidity or sugariness prevails. Delicious and healthy compotes, jams, preserves, juices, marmalade are obtained from honeysuckle.

The shrub has an unremarkable appearance: a spreading plant up to 2.5 m in height with small green leaves and thin brown shoots. Fruits are dark blue, with a bluish bloom, drop-shaped or pear-shaped, elongated. The average weight of a berry is about 1.2 g. The pulp is violet-red, juicy. Depending on the variety, honeysuckle ripens in June - July.

For example, we will describe the characteristics of edible honeysuckle of different varieties:

1. Bakchar giant. The bushes are vigorous and spreading, with large dark green leaves. Shoots are not pubescent, thick, straight. The flowers are pale, small. The berries are oval, blue, with a waxy coating, average weight - 1.8 g.
2. Blue spindle... The bushes are medium-sized, with a compressed crown. Shoots are thick, smooth. The flowers are white-yellow. The berries are fusiform, black, with a waxy bloom. Mass - about 1 g, taste sweet and sour, with bitterness.
   

   Blue spindle
3. 

   Yoke

   Yoke. The bushes are medium-sized, dense, with dark green oval leaves. The flowers are in the form of a tube, pale yellow. The berries are elongated, with a rounded base, blue-blue color. The skin is of medium thickness, with a waxy coating. Berry weight - 0.8 g.

4. Provincial. Shoots curved and not pubescent. The bushes are low-growing and medium-spreading, compact. The leaves are dark green. The berries are oval, elongated, waxy bloom, dark blue. Weight - about 2 g.
5. Titmouse. Bushes vigorous, with curved shoots. The color is light brown, there is pubescence. Leaves are medium, green. Berries are oblong-oval, yellow-blue, weighing about 0.8 g each. The skin is thin, the taste is refreshing.
   

   Titmouse

Inedible

Inedible honeysuckle fruits are red, yellow, orange. Such shrubs grow not only in the wild, in swamps and forests, but also in the garden - summer residents use plants as decoration for the site.

Depending on the type and variety, inedible honeysuckle is high, medium-sized, low (up to 0.5 m). The shoots of the shrubs are not pubescent, the leaves are smooth. There is also honeysuckle in the form of a vine. A distinctive feature of all inedible varieties is beautiful and large flowers. Flowering begins in May and lasts 1-2 months. The flowers are white, red, yellow, purple, pink.

Known species and varieties:

1. Honeysuckle. The height of the climbing shrub reaches 5-6 m, the leaves are dense, dark green, with a bluish tint. The flowers are pinkish yellow or white, fragrant. Red fruits appear after flowering.
   

   Honeysuckle
2. Brown. The height of the bush is about 2 m, the width is 1.5 m. The shoots are curly, reddish. Orange-red flowers appear from June to September. No smell. Seedless red fruits are collected in bunches.
   

   Brown
3. Hekroth. Weak climbing shrub 2-4 m high. The length of purple-red shoots is 30-50 cm. The flowers are tubular, with a red-blue corolla outside and purple inside. Red fruits grow singly.
4. Gerald. An evergreen shrub with long vines and large yellow flowers. It spreads a pleasant aroma of jasmine, red-orange berries.
5. Thalmann. Evergreen climbing shrub 5-6 m high. Leaves are bright green, flowers are golden orange. The diameter of the flowers is up to 6 cm. The fruits are spherical, red-orange.

Ornamental shrubs are used for landscaping gazebos, arches, barbecue areas, garden buildings. Depending on the characteristics of the species and variety, vertical or horizontal gardening is used.

How to distinguish edible and inedible honeysuckle

How to tell if honeysuckle is edible or not? All edible shrubs reach a height of 2.5 m. They have a classic form, like most garden plants, without vines, climbing shoots and other features. The color of the berries is always blue or purple, with a waxy or bluish bloom. There is no edible honeysuckle yellow, red, orange.

The fruits of inedible plants differ greatly not only in color, but also in shape and size. Among the people, real honeysuckle, or forest, is called a wolf berry. Its dark red spherical fruits grow together at the base. They are poisonous because they contain xylosteine. Flowers are yellowish-white, grow in pairs, are formed in May - June. Leaves are opposite, entire, dark green above, grayish below, with strong pubescence. The shrub is grown for decorative purposes.

Is inedible honeysuckle poisonous?

The glycoside xylosteine, found in berries, causes food poisoning: nausea, vomiting, fever, diarrhea, abdominal pain. When eating such fruits, it is important to rinse the stomach or drink activated charcoal. Then call an ambulance and describe in detail to the doctor what exactly, when and in what quantities was eaten.

Wild inedible honeysuckle is most commonly found in shady forests, on forest edges, along stream banks or in swamps.

Which honeysuckle is healthier

Which honeysuckle is healthier - garden or forest? The fruits of the edible plant contain vitamins A, C, K, group B, organic acids, fructose and sucrose, trace elements. Berries have anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, restorative properties and support liver and heart health. They are used as an antioxidant, choleretic and diuretic. They are used to make tinctures, decoctions, compresses, tea. The main thing is to observe dosages and recommendations for the preparation of folk remedies.

Interesting! Blue honeysuckle berries are rich in anthocyanins, which can improve cognition and vascular tone. Fruits minimize the negative effects of diabetes and diseases of the nervous system.

Although wolfberry is not eaten, it is used for the preparation of "medicinal" preparations. They are used only on the recommendation and under the supervision of a doctor. Shoots, leaves and flowers have wound healing, analgesic, antiseptic properties. Funds from them are used as a poultice for abscesses, boils, eczema and other skin lesions.

It is important to ensure that the wolfberry does not get into food, it is isolated from children and other family members. It is dangerous to prepare tinctures and decoctions at home. Even toxic leaves of a bush can cause harm when used internally.

Conclusion

What is the difference between edible and inedible honeysuckle? Edible is distinguished by low, spreading bushes, yellow-pale flowers and blue oblong fruits. Inedible (decorative) reaches 6 m in height, its flowers are multi-colored, large, with a pleasant aroma. The berries are large, deep red or orange. There is also a wild variety of inedible honeysuckle - wolfberry. It grows mainly in forests, bolts, river lowlands. Its fruits are toxic to humans.