Kentucky Plant Atlas




Record uncertain    No county information
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Caprifoliaceae Lonicera <Caprifolium> flava (flavida)
Lonicera flava Sims
ALI: no HAB: n/a, n/a, n/a, n/a ABU: n/a, n/a, 0
This species is known mostly from rocky woods (typically non-calcareous) in Ozarkian and southern Appalachian regions, with only a few intervening records from s. Ill, w. Ky. and w. Tenn. It has been reported from Ky. by Pr (listed for WARR), Linney (1882) and other authors (M; Hill 2003b). There is a coll. at NY that has been det. as flava by C.H. Perino in 1975: S.F. Price, May 1, 1894; "bluffs of Indian Creek, Warren Co." However, this specimen is damaged by insects, and the identification may be doubted. No other colls. have been located, and Duncan (1967) mapped only dioica in WARR. L. flava has also been reported from counties of n. Tenn., s. Ill.and s. Ohio that are adjacent or near to Ky. (K; Hill 2003b). There has been some general confusion between flava and dioica in east-central states; e.g. see apparent combination of most flava under "dioica" in Ark. (K). Hybrids with dioica or prolifera have been suspected in some cases (Cr; Hill 2003b), especially among plants known as L. flava var. flavescens Gleason (Sm, Gl) or L. flavida Cockerell (F), to which some Ky. records refer. There has also been occasional confusion with the yellow-flowered form of sempervirens. L. flava is best distinguished from dioica by its bright-yellow to orange corollas (versus white, pale greenish-yellow, pinkish or reddish), which are not pouched near the base; also, leaves are less glaucous below (Y).