Honeysuckle, common name for a plant family and for its representative genus. The family contains
about 400 species of dicot flowering plants, including many ornamentals. It occurs mainly
in the North Temperate Zone. Its members are mostly shrubs or small trees.The family contains many
ornamentals, such as the honeysuckle, a genus of about 180 species of usually fragrant shrubs and vines-
including the trumpet honeysuckle—more than 30 of which are cultivated; the elders; the arrowwoods;
the abelias; and the weigelias. Japanese honeysuckle, introduced from Asia, has become a weed in
eastern North America. It often kills the native vegetation by overshadowing it. Scientific classification:
Honeysuckles make up the family Caprifoliaceae.
