Common honeysuckle or Fly honeysuckle: how to tell them apart?
Common honeysuckle and Fly honeysuckle look alike and are often mixed up. Here is how to tell them apart, feature by feature, with their photos and the details to look for.
⚡ The quick answer
Common honeysuckle
Lonicera periclymenum
Fly honeysuckle
Lonicera xylosteum
Fly honeysuckle bears its flowers in pairs in the leaf axils on a rather bushy shrub, whereas common honeysuckle has flowers grouped in terminal heads at the ends of climbing stems.
🍃 Leaves
Opposite, ovate, entire, slightly bluish beneath
Deciduous, ovate, opposite, grey-green, downy
🌸 Flowers
Long cream-yellow tubes tinged with pink, very fragrant in the evening
Small cream-white flowers in pairs, turning yellow
🍎 Fruits
Glossy red berries, generally in close pairs in the leaf axils.
Two glossy red berries often fused or very close together at the base, a typical feature of the group.
🪵 Bark
Twining stems winding around supports
Grey bark peeling in strips on old twigs
📏 Size
twining climber 2 to 5 m long
1 to 2 m tall, upright non-climbing shrub
🗺️ Habitat
Hedges, woodland edges and understorey, climbing over bushes
Hedges, woodland edges, gardens, calcareous soils
⚠️ Toxicity
Red berries toxic if eaten, causing digestive upset (vomiting, diarrhoea).
Red berries toxic if eaten (digestive upset), like other honeysuckles.
🔎 And from the Fly honeysuckle side
Fly honeysuckle bears its flowers in pairs in the leaf axils on a rather bushy shrub, whereas common honeysuckle has flowers grouped in terminal heads at the ends of climbing stems.
🌿 Go further
Want to practise spotting these details on real photos? Floraneo offers profiles and quizzes for dozens of look-alike species.
ℹ️ Educational profile — do not use it to judge whether a plant is edible or safe.