Description

Lonicera involucrata – kenkeknem sq’wlus tsitsen (Secwepemc)

Deciduous thicket of erect or straggly single stems up to 3m tall with yellow flowers and black, not so palatable berries.

Height: 0.5 – 3m tall

Edible: Y

Medicine: Y

Other Uses: Y

Poisonous: N

Soil: boggy, swampy, sandy to rich soil

Watering:  moist to swamp

Sun: full sun to part shade

Usually found at: moist forests, clearings, streamside habitat, swamps and thickets. Low to subalpine elevation.

Pollinators & wildlife: 

Ornamental:  create a non-thorny thicket with pretty black-red berries in swamplands.

 

Leaves: elliptical to broad lanced, hairy underneath. Bright green.

Flowers: small bright yellow, tubular flowers in pairs.

Berries: shiny, black, bitter berries are not considered palatable by most people

First Nations uses: the shiny, black, bitter berries are not considered palatable by most people. There were some taboos against eating them. For example, the KwaKwaka’wakw believed that eating the berries would cause one to become unable to speak. The bark and twigs were used in a variety of medicinal preparations, ranging from treatments for digestive tract problems to contraceptives. The Quileute and  KwaKwaka’wakw people used the berries as a plack pigment. The Haida rubbed the berries on the scalp to prevent hair from turning grey.

 

Note: Native plant sales are pick-up only at Suwa’lkh School (1432 Brunette Ave in Coquitlam). Email suwa’lkh@freshroots.ca for more information.