# American Fly Honeysuckle (Lonicera canadensis)

> A native woodland honeysuckle of moist northern and mountain forests, with yellow flowers in pairs and twin red berries for birds.

Also called fly honeysuckle, American honeysuckle. Category: Native Shrubs. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-fly-honeysuckle/

![American fly honeysuckle (Lonicera canadensis) pairs of bright red berries on a leafy stem](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/american-fly-honeysuckle-h1610-800.jpg)
*Photo: Superior National Forest, CC BY 2.0 · [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ALonicera_canadensis_1-eheep_%285098097682%29.jpg)*

## Facts

- Type: Shrub
- Mature height: 3 to 6 ft
- USDA hardiness zones: 3 to 7
- Grows wild in: The forest understory, rich moist slopes and the Appalachians
- Native range: 21 states, north and west to Minnesota and south to Georgia (Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin)
- Sun: Part, Shade, Full
- Soil moisture: Average, Wet
- Growth rate: Medium
- Traits: Tolerates shade, Wildlife value, Showy flowers
- Sold as: Saplings, Seed

Heights and zones are typical ranges for the species in cultivation; local conditions and seed source shift them.

## Availability

Not yet priced online. Ask at captain@bluewhaletrees.com or leave an email on the web page to be told when it is listed.

## Notes

American fly honeysuckle is a native shrub of moist forests and forest edges, from Minnesota east to Maine and south in the mountains to Georgia. It is a true honeysuckle, but not one of the invasive Asian shrub honeysuckles. Its yellow flowers open in pairs in spring, and pairs of bright red berries follow for the birds. Indiana and Maryland list it as endangered, and Tennessee lists it as threatened. Give it the shade of a woodland garden, where the soil stays moist.

## Size, growth and what to expect

No source rates its growth, so our growth estimator treats it as a medium grower, like southern bush-honeysuckle of the same family, about a foot and a half a year. It makes a shrub of 3 to 6 feet. Its untoothed leaves are 1.2 to 4.7 inches long, and the bark of older stems peels.

Yellow, tubular flowers open in pairs from April to June. Pairs of bright red berries ripen from June to August, and birds eat them. Unlike mountain fly honeysuckle, its paired berries stay separate and turn red rather than blue.

It grows wild in moist forests and forest edges, and in the South in bouldery coves and along mountain streams. It is common in the Northeast but rare in Indiana, Maryland, Tennessee and Georgia, at the edges of its range.

## How to grow American Fly Honeysuckle

American fly honeysuckle grows in part shade or shade, and in sun where the soil stays moist. It wants a moist woodland soil. Set plants 3 feet apart and keep them 3 feet from a wall. At its size it can go within 15 feet of overhead wires.

Saplings ship bare-root or potted. Plant them dormant, from leaf fall until bud swell, in a hole wider than the roots and no deeper. Set the crown at the soil line, put the native soil back in, and keep the mulch clear of the stems. Clean the seed from the red berries and sow it outdoors in fall, under an eighth to a quarter inch of soil and a light straw mulch. For a spring sowing, chill it damp in the refrigerator for two to three months first. In one germination test, all of the seed sprouted.

Water weekly through the first summer if rain is short. It needs no pruning.

Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female plants to pair. Bumble bees, hummingbirds and moths visit the flowers. A fungal disease has affected some wild populations.

## Sources

- [USDA Forest Service, Woody Plant Seed Manual (2008), Lonicera chapter (Dubois and Blazich)](https://rngr.net/publications/wpsm/genera/l/at_download/file)
- [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Lonicera canadensis](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=LOCA7)
- [Go Botany, Native Plant Trust: Lonicera canadensis, American honeysuckle](https://gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/lonicera/canadensis/)
- [NatureServe Explorer: Lonicera canadensis, American Fly-honeysuckle](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.154100/Lonicera_canadensis)
- [Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Georgia Biodiversity Portal: Lonicera canadensis](https://georgiabiodiversity.org/portal/profile?group=plants&es_id=17944)
- [Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation: Tennessee Natural Heritage Program Rare Plant List](https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/environment/natural-areas/documents/na_tn-rare-plant-list.pdf)
- [Indiana Department of Natural Resources: Endangered, Threatened and Rare Vascular Plants of Indiana](https://www.in.gov/dnr/nature-preserves/files/np-etrplants.pdf)
- [Maryland Natural Heritage Program: List of Rare, Threatened, and Endangered Plants of Maryland, 2021](https://dnr.maryland.gov/wildlife/Documents/rte_Plant_List.pdf)
- [North Carolina Natural Heritage Program: 2024 Rare Plant List, revised 11/03/2025](https://www.ncnhp.org/media/833/open)
- [Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation: Natural Heritage Resources of Virginia, Rare Plants and Watch List, June 2026](https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/document/plantlist-current.pdf)
- [West Virginia Division of Natural Resources: Rare Plants tracked by the West Virginia Natural Heritage Program, 4 August 2020](http://wvdnr.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/RTE_Plants.pdf)
- [USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: Lonicera canadensis](https://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile/LOCA7)
- [NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox: Diervilla sessilifolia](https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/diervilla-sessilifolia/)

## Read before planting

- [Ten planting mistakes that quietly kill trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/ten-planting-mistakes/index.html.md)
- [Transplanting young trees: timing, water and protection](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/transplanting-young-trees/index.html.md)
- [Protecting young trees from voles, rabbits, deer and squirrels](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/protecting-trees-from-animals/index.html.md)
- [The habitat around a tree is part of the tree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/habitat-around-a-tree/index.html.md)
- [Invasive vines and shrubs are what is killing your woods](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/invasive-vines-and-shrubs/index.html.md)
- [Native trees and shrubs for birds: caterpillars, fruit, mast, nests and winter cover, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-for-birds/index.html.md)

## Related

- [Planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md): for a thrive, struggle or fail verdict on American Fly Honeysuckle, add ?species=american-fly-honeysuckle with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address, for example ?species=american-fly-honeysuckle&zone=3&sun=part&moisture=average.
- [Companion species for American Fly Honeysuckle](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=american-fly-honeysuckle): the natives that share its ground and the plants that pair with it in a yard.
- [Growth estimator](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md): how the height and trunk projections are made; the estimate itself runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/#species=american-fly-honeysuckle
- [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how American Fly Honeysuckle is sown, in the chart for every species (treatment, cold days, depth, timing); the dated plan runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/#species=american-fly-honeysuckle
- [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what American Fly Honeysuckle needs for a crop and how many to plant, in the table for every species; the planner runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/#plants=american-fly-honeysuckle:1
- [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months American Fly Honeysuckle flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species.