Mediterranean honeysuckle

Mediterranean honeysuckle is a rather exuberant plant that can be found as a bush in drier soils and as a climbing vine in cooler areas. Also known as “madreselva”, it is a typical plant of the Mediterranean scrubland that grows alongside shrubs such as mastic and others that support it. The leaves are quite thick and light green in colour. The flowers are sweetly scented and have a curious appearance: a long tube with two lips (upper and lower) that frame the stamens and styles. The scent of honeysuckle inspired Samuel Pepys to call it the “trumpet flower”, capable of “blowing perfume instead of sound”. Honeysuckle is considered a medicinal plant in folk medicine; its fruits are toxic berries. This is one of the cases in which the name of the genus (Lonicera) comes from the scholar who devoted himself to the study of these plants: Adam Lonicer. On a purely symbolic level, the plant is associated with optimism, communication skills and spirituality.