Reaching 2–6 feet tall with 4-angled twigs, this leafy, intricately branched shrub has paired tubular yellow flowers and opposite leaves. Note the green turning reddish, leaf-like bracts that surround the flowers and later the twin black berries.

FLOWERS: June–September. Paired flowers from leaf axils with 2 pairs of large, fused, leaf-like bracts with glandular hairs; floral tube 3/8–3/4 inch long (1–2 cm), with 5 small lobes slightly flaring open; outer surface densely glandular-hairy. Fruit paired, shinny black berries, 1/4–3/8 inch diameter (6–10 mm), bracts leaf-like, reddish-purple, glandular hairy.

LEAVES: Opposite on short, hairy stalks (petioles). Blades elliptic to oblong, 1 1/2–6 inches long (4–15 cm) by 1/4 inch wide (7 mm); edges lined with ciliate hairs; top surfaces smooth, bottoms sparsely stiff-hairy, tips pointed.

HABITAT: Moist woodlands, meadows, stream sides; pinyon-juniper foothills, ponderosa-Douglas fir, spruce-fir forests.

ELEVATION: 7,400–11,500 feet (2255–3505 m).

RANGE: Rocky Mts. and all states westward; Canada.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Other native honeysuckle species have red, white, or creamy flowers and red berries.

NM COUNTIES: Widespread, common in mid- to high-elevation, moist habitats: Catron, Cibola, Colfax, Eddy, Lincoln, Los Alamos, Mora, Otero, Rio Arriba, San Juan, San Miguel, Sandoval, Santa Fe, Socorro, Taos.