Description

General - small, erect shrub, less than 1 m high; branchlets green to purplish, smooth or lightly haired; greyish to blackish, shredding bark on older stems.

Leaves - opposite; ovate, tapering at the base to a short leafstalk; upper and lower surfaces hairless when mature; margins entire without hairy fringe

Flowers - paired, on long, slender stalks from the leaf angles; light yellow, 2-lipped, hairy, approx. I cm in length; appearing in June and July.

Fruit - paired, long-stalked, orangy-red to purple berries; sometimes joined at the base; ripening in July and August.

Habitat

Throughout NW Ontario's boreal region; preferring moist/wet evergreen stands and calcareous soils; sometimes in marshes, swamps and along waterways.

Notes

Non-flowering specimens may be confused with the Spreading Dogbane which has a milky sap while the Swamp Fly Honeysuckle does not.

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