Lonicera subspicata

Southern Honeysuckle is a species in the Caprifoliaceae (Honeysuckle) family that is endemic to California, where it is known from several areas in mountain and coastal habitats, particularly chaparral. It is a vining shrub that usually climbs on other plants for support. It may exceed two meters in length. It is lined with oval leaves up to 4 centimeters long. The flower cluster is a long, fuzzy spike of light yellow flowers each about a centimeter long. The flower has an upper and lower lip with hairy stamens and style protruding. The fruit is a round red or yellow berry just under a centimeter wide. There are two recognized varieties, var. subspicata and var. denudata. There are subtle differences between the two varieties, and they have overlapping ranges (see separate listings). Var. denudata is the more widespread variety.