Mandarin

Honeysuckle

Variety Description

Varieties used for comparison: Lonicera × tellmanniana and 'Dropmore Scarlet'

Summary: 'Mandarin' has longer flowers than the reference varieties. The flower of 'Mandarin' is an orange-red to orange-brown colour while L. tellmanniana has light yellow-orange coloured flowers and 'Dropmore Scarlet' red pink. The flower of 'Mandarin' is tubular shaped with a broadly flared limb while in 'Dropmore Scarlet' it is more narrowly funnel shaped. 'Mandarin' has more flowers in its inflorescence cluster than either L. tellmanniana or 'Dropmore Scarlet'.

Description:

'Mandarin' is a deciduous climbing vine type honeysuckle variety. The colour of the new shoot before flowering is purple-brown. The stem has a purplish red colour with an excavated pith, absent or very weak pubescence and strong glaucosity. The vegetative bud is grey in colour with absent or very weak pubescence. 'Mandarin' has an obovate shaped dark green entire leaf with an obtuse shaped apex and rounded base. The leaf pair below the inflorescence are connate shaped forming a disk. The leaf has no pubescence. The upper side of the leaf has absent or very weak glaucosity while the lower surface has weak glaucosity. The leaf has a yellow green colour just before leaf fall.

'Mandarin' flowers in midseason with the flowers positioned at the end of the shoots. The flowers are arranged in a cluster of 15-30 flowers. The corolla has a tubular shape with five lobes and absent of any pubescence. The colour of the outside of the corolla of a newly opened flower is orange-red to orange-brown while the inside of the corolla is yellow-orange. The flower fragrance has a weak intensity.

Origin & Breeding History: 'Mandarin' arises from a controlled cross between Lonicera tragophylla and Lonicera brownii 'Dropmore Scarlet' made in 1989 at the University of British Columbia Botanical Gardens Nursery, Vancouver, British Columbia. The progeny flowered for the first time in 1991 from which one plant was selected for hardiness, flower colour and foliage characteristics.

Tests & Trials: Test and trials were conducted at the University of British Columbia Botanical Garden Nursery, Vancouver, British Columbia in 2005. Plants were grown in plastic pots.

Comparison table for 'Mandarin' with reference varieties Lonicera × tellmanniana and 'Dropmore Scarlet'

Flower colour (RHS)

Click on image for larger view

Honeysuckle: Variety 'Mandarin'

Click on image for larger view

Honeysuckle: 'Dropmore Scarlet' (reference variety)

Click on image for larger view

Honeysuckle: 'Lonicera x tellmanniana' (reference variety)