This deciduous shrubby honeysuckle is in full flower in the Lonicera collection at the eastern end of the Bateson Walk.
One of approximately 180 species of Lonicera, L. hispida takes it’s specific name hispida from the Latin for bristly, in reference to the bristly hairs on the young shoots, leaves and flowers. The leaves are ovate-obovate in shape and the soft yellow flowers are produced at the base of young shoots in pairs, and emerge from a pair of rounded pale green bracts. This is an easy, hardy species from Central Asia and the Himalaya, where it grows at altitudes between 2,900m and 4,500m.