Winter Japanese Honeysuckle

[Native Hunter]

Native, that looks like a strawberry bush.


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Massey, it isn't strawberry bush. I know what that is and have it at a few places on the farm. It has berries, but evidently doesn't spread easily, because I have never seen it anywhere else. I think the only thing that keeps the deer from eating it to death is that they can't reach the top.

 

[Jon]

I agree it’s an euonymus, non native. What color berries... deer are hammering it? I like the way to canopies....


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[Native Hunter]

I agree it’s an euonymus, non native. What color berries... deer are hammering it? I like the way to canopies....


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It has been a while since I stopped and took a close look, but I think the berries are orange. Next time I’m over there I will get some better pictures. Maybe I need to get some cuttings and get more started.

 

[Jon]

Can’t blame you they eat it, hard to say pump the brakes!


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[THE LLC]

Massey, it isn't strawberry bush. I know what that is and have it at a few places on the farm. It has berries, but evidently doesn't spread easily, because I have never seen it anywhere else. I think the only thing that keeps the deer from eating it to death is that they can't reach the top.

Correct. The biggest “indicator” plant there is. If you are in its native range, but don’t have it, you have too many deer.

 

[THE LLC]

Here is another winter plant that is being hammered. The browse line on this is very evident. It appears to be some sort of wild growing eunoymus that came up in this fence row. I've never been able to positively ID it. Some folks warned me to kill it because it would become invasive, but I decided to watch it for a while before taking any action. It is eaten like this every winter, but I've never seen another one come up anywhere on the entire farm. I first noticed it about 8 years ago.

I think I may have figured out why you haven’t my seen any more.

 

[Native Hunter]

Correct. The biggest “indicator” plant there is. If you are in its native range, but don’t have it, you have too many deer.

The last place I saw strawberry bush just pop up was in my fence line at the highway. Of course, the road department came by in a couple of years and sprayed it with something and killed it graveyard dead.

I remember a couple of places I've seen it in the past. I'm going to walk by there in a few days and see if it is still there. These were big established bushes that I remember.

 

[THE LLC]

I found a strawberry bush at the farm a few years ago that was protected by a tangle of post oak saplings. I looked at it last weekend and it’s still doing good. It’s about 7 feet tall. Had lots of seed on it last year.