Harmless looking Bush Honeysuckle is not so innocent

What if you had the chance to keep a plant like kudzu from invading our area? What would you do? Would you take action or simply let it come in?

Your answer to that question is important because Cape Girardeau County is being invaded by an aggressive shrub. Bush Honeysuckle is now residing in our backyards. Its presence is not welcome and if we are going to stop its spread, then action needs to be taken now.

Plants that are not native to Missouri get introduced either because they have some attractive feature (fast growth, pleasant flowers or foliage) or they hitchhike on their own. The non-native plants that are most troublesome are the ones that tend to spread quickly. While they may have attractive qualities, aggressive exotics do harm to out native plants and ecosystems.

Bush honeysuckle is a wolf in sheep's clothing. It has a sweet, fragrant flower that is relished by insects and people. The red fall berries are eaten by birds and add color to the landscape. The bush is fast growing and quick to establish in a yard. All of these qualities made bush honeysuckle an ideal shrub to bring to the United States from Manchuria and Korea in 1855.

A shrub, not a vine

Bush honeysuckle is the only honeysuckle that is a shrub instead of a vine. The flowers are a typical honeysuckle but the leaves are a bit different. The tips come to a point rather abruptly in comparison to vining honeysuckles. You can learn more about the characters of bush honeysuckle by logging onto www.conservation.state.mo.us/nathis/exotic/vegman/six.htm or call the Missouri Department of Conservation.

Once you can identify it, don't let that sweet exterior fool you. This bush is nothing short of a plague to Missouri's forests. This 15-foot tall shrub is thick and is the first woody plant to green up in spring. Bush honeysuckle cast shade on native trees and shrubs so they cannot flower, fruit and store energy from the sun. The aggressive shrub also keeps young seedlings of our native plants from getting established. In effect, bush honeysuckle becomes the only plant in a forest under story. The forest will eventually have no replacement trees because of bush honeysuckle.

The harm this shrub does to a forest is becoming clear in St. Louis. Native plants are not taking part in the natural replacement of older trees. They are blocked out by this honeysuckle. Forest diversity declines and bush honeysuckle becomes the dominant plant.

Bush honeysuckle is hard to miss this time of year because it holds its leaves well into winter. The leaves are a yellowed green and are easy to notice now. A drive along major St. Louis highways reveals a solid shrub layer of bush honeysuckle.

A similar drive along Interstate 55 in Cape Girardeau County shows the same trend beginning. Bush honeysuckle dots our countryside but has only begun to establish itself. If you are not concerned about bush honeysuckle's spread, look at St. Louis' shrub problem . . . this is our future unless we act.

Identifying the plant

A first action is to learn how to identify bush honeysuckle and watch for it. Next, avoid planting bush honeysuckle in your yard. If you find it growing in your yard or woods, estimate how much it has spread. You may have to consider carefully how to control the shrub if you have a large infestation. Cutting and spraying with herbicide are acceptable methods for killing bush honeysuckle.

If you need technical assistance please contact the Missouri Department of Conservation. MDC also has a publication called "Plants That Won't Stay Put." This publication discusses the problems with exotic plants and highlights plants that cause serious problems.

If you have bush honeysuckle on your property, don't let it grow, control it immediately.

You have the opportunity to help keep this leafy pest from becoming a big problem.

A.J. Hendershott is an outreach and education regional supervisor with the Missouri Department of Conservation.