Box-leaved Honeysuckle - Lonicera pileata

L. pileata is a low, spreading shrub with small, glossy, narrow leaves that point forward, and only have a few veins, The twigs have an interpetiolar ridge. It has small tubular cream flowers which are followed by purple berries.

Superficially similar to Box (Buxus sempervirens) but B. sempervirens has no interpetiolar ridge and has 30 to 40 pairs of veins visible. They are completely different in flower and fruit. Also similar to Wilson's Honeysuckle (Lonicera nitida) but Box-leaved Honeysuckle has longer, pointed, more forward-directed leaves and only short stem hairs.

Used for garden hedges and often found as a naturalised escape from cultivation.

Flowers in late spring, followed by purple berries.

Evergreen shrub.

Widespread in Britain but with most records from the western side of the country.

Rare or rarely recorded in Leicestershire and Rutland. It was not recorded in the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire.