Biosecurity Spotters logo

Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica)

Japanese honeysuckle is a serious environmental weed in southern Australia, especially in New South Wales, Victoria and southern Queensland. Its long, dense stems can smother native vegetation and prevent native plants from regenerating.

Key facts

Type: Weed, vine and creeper.

Native to: Japan, Korea and China.

Established in: QLD, NSW, ACT, VIC, TAS, SA, WA.

Other names: Chinese honeysuckle, Hall's honeysuckle.

Best time to act: Flowers are produced mainly from June to January, providing a useful period for identification.

Identification

  • It is an evergreen or weakly deciduous scrambler or climber that can reach about 10 metres high, with long stems.
  • Young stems are purplish and densely hairy, while older stems are brown and hairless.
  • Opposite pairs of leaves are mostly 3–8 cm long and 1–4 cm wide, oval and smooth-edged; young leaves are usually hairy on their veins and margins.
  • Fragrant, tubular flowers are borne in pairs at leaf bases, are 2–3 cm long, and change from white, often tinged pink or purple, to yellow or orange as they age.
  • Shiny black, oval berries are 6–10 mm long and mature in summer and autumn.
  • Look-alike: Winter honeysuckle (Lonicera fragrantissima) is an upright shrub with hairless young stems and red mature fruit.
  • Look-alike: European honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum) has hairy, reddish young stems, flowers in dense clusters at branch tips and red mature fruit; non-flowering Japanese honeysuckle can also resemble native climbers such as milk vines, bearded tylophora and silkpods.

Where it grows

In Australia it occurs from south-east Queensland to southern and eastern Victoria, with records also in the ACT, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia, in moist forests, woodlands, heathlands, riparian areas and disturbed sites.

Why it matters

  • It climbs over shrubs and tree branches and spreads across ground flora, forming extensive mats that smother and out-compete native vegetation.
  • These dense infestations reduce native plant diversity and affect associated fauna, and can prevent native species from regenerating.
  • It threatens heathland, heathy woodland, damp and wet sclerophyll forest, warm temperate rainforest and streamside vegetation.
  • The berries and leaves are poisonous if ingested and can cause gastrointestinal irritation; contact with the plant can cause skin rashes.

How it spreads

  • Birds spread seeds after eating the berries; seeds can also be dispersed by water and in garden refuse.
  • Long twining runners root wherever they contact soil and form dense mats; rooted runners can resprout as separate plants if their above-ground parts are severed.
  • Vegetative fragments can be spread by water, machinery, slashing, garden refuse and during removal.

Control options

  • Use an integrated control program; manual removal can suit seedlings and small infestations, but is not recommended for large infestations because it can be ineffective, disturb soil and contribute to further spread.
  • Mowing and grazing can control spread but do not eradicate the plant.
  • Prescribed burning removes above-ground growth and reduces new growth, but roots survive and continue producing sprouts.
  • Use registered herbicides as appropriate, including treatment of root crowns after cutting stems back or treatment of larger climbing stems; follow-up is often needed because plants commonly reshoot.

Hygiene and washdown

  • Avoid moving vegetative fragments on machinery or slashing equipment, and keep fragments out of water and garden refuse, as these can spread the plant.
  • Inspect and clean vehicles, plant and footwear before leaving an infested area, paying attention to tyres, radiators, belly plates, tracks and floor mats.
  • Wash down at a designated bay where runoff is contained and can be monitored for seedlings.
  • Record each washdown so the client has evidence of clean entry and exit.

Classification by state

  • Australia (national): No national listing. Managed under state and territory law.
  • Queensland: Not prohibited or restricted. Not listed as prohibited or restricted matter in Queensland. Everyone must also take all reasonable and practical steps to minimise its risks (the general biosecurity obligation).
  • New South Wales: Not a priority weed. Not a state or regional priority weed in NSW. The general biosecurity duty applies: anyone dealing with it must prevent, eliminate or minimise the risk it poses.
  • Victoria: Not declared. Not declared under the Catchment and Land Protection Act 1994. Other Victorian laws may still apply.
  • South Australia: Not declared. Not declared under the Landscape South Australia Act 2019. Other laws may still apply.
  • Western Australia: Permitted, not declared. Listed as a permitted organism in WA, so it can be brought in, but it is not a declared pest.
  • Tasmania: Not declared. Not a declared weed in Tasmania. Other laws may still apply.
  • Northern Territory: Not declared. Not on the NT A to Z weed list, and Weeds Australia does not list it as declared in the NT. Check the NT declared weeds list before moving or planting it.
  • Australian Capital Territory: Declared pest, prohibited. It is a declared pest throughout the ACT. Dealing with it, such as selling, moving or keeping it, is prohibited.

Legal obligations

Every state and territory places a duty on landholders and people working on land to prevent the spread of invasive species, such as the general biosecurity obligation in Queensland and the general biosecurity duty in New South Wales. Declarations and control requirements differ between states and local government areas, so check the current official list before work starts.

  • Queensland: Biosecurity Act 2014 (Qld), administered by Biosecurity Queensland (13 25 23)
  • New South Wales: Biosecurity Act 2015 (NSW), administered by NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development
  • Australian Capital Territory: Biosecurity Act 2023 (ACT), administered by ACT Biosecurity
  • Victoria: Catchment and Land Protection Act 1994 (Vic), administered by Agriculture Victoria
  • Tasmania: Biosecurity Act 2019 (Tas), administered by Biosecurity Tasmania
  • South Australia: Landscape South Australia Act 2019 (SA), administered by the regional landscape board
  • Western Australia: Biosecurity and Agriculture Management Act 2007 (WA), administered by the WA Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development

Sources