Honeysuckle (Japanese Honeysuckle): Benefits, Contraindications, Varieties, and Watering Methods

Japanese honeysuckle, whose proper name is Rendong (Lonicera japonica). The name “honeysuckle” comes from the Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu), because the flowers of Japanese honeysuckle first open white and later turn yellow, hence the name honeysuckle. Many friends love to buy honeysuckle to brew as tea, so what are the benefits, effects, and contraindications of honeysuckle? What varieties of honeysuckle are there? How do you water honeysuckle?

I. Benefits, Effects, and Contraindications of Honeysuckle

Benefits and Effects:

1. Clearing heat and detoxifying

Honeysuckle has the effect of clearing heat and detoxifying. In the hot summer, you can often see people brewing honeysuckle as tea to drink. Drinking it regularly in summer can relieve heat and cool the body, and boost a person's vitality. In addition, regularly drinking tea brewed from honeysuckle can also relieve headaches and fever, improve insomnia and frequent dreaming, and improve sleep quality.

2. Antibacterial and anti-inflammatory

Honeysuckle has a very good effect against bacteria and viruses, and has the effect of promoting the secretion of adrenal cortical hormones in the human body, which can relieve inflammatory problems in various parts of the body and produce an antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effect. Regularly drinking honeysuckle tea can effectively inhibit diseases such as typhoid and influenza viruses in daily life.

3. Boosting immunity

Regularly drinking tea brewed from honeysuckle can boost a person's immunity, promote the transformation of lymphocytes in the human body, and enhance the phagocytic ability of white blood cells, thereby improving the body's immunity. Regularly drinking honeysuckle tea can even effectively prevent cancer and tumors, and reduce the possibility of viral infections and diseases.

Dietary Contraindications:

1. Avoid taking excessive amounts

No matter what you consume, you need to control the dosage. Honeysuckle is cold in nature; if taken in excess, it is very likely to cause discomfort in the stomach and intestines, leading to symptoms such as abdominal pain and diarrhea. Taking an excessive amount of honeysuckle at one time does no good to the body; the most suitable approach is to take it in moderate amounts over the long term.

2. Do not take during menstruation

Women especially should not eat cold-natured foods during menstruation, otherwise it will have an adverse effect on the body. Honeysuckle is a cold-natured medicinal material; if taken during menstruation, it will affect the body, possibly worsening abdominal pain and causing irregular menstruation, so it is best not to take honeysuckle during menstruation.

3. Do not leave overnight

When we brew tea in daily life, it is best not to continue drinking it after it has sat overnight, because after a night has passed, the tea may already have spoiled. Overnight tea leaves should also not be brewed again, to avoid spoilage having a bad effect on the body. Generally speaking, after honeysuckle has been brewed two or three times, it should no longer be used.

II. What Varieties of Honeysuckle Are There?

1. Mountain honeysuckle

Mountain honeysuckle is a deciduous vine, properly named South China honeysuckle (Lonicera confusa). It mostly grows by streams, in open sparse forests, or in thickets, and is produced in southern regions such as Anhui, Zhejiang, Hunan, and Hubei; it is also distributed in Taiwan, China, Guangdong, and Guangxi.

2. Damao honeysuckle

The name sounds rustic and unremarkable, but it is the oldest variety of honeysuckle. Pingyi County in Shandong, known as the hometown of honeysuckle, has 60% of its planting area devoted to Damao honeysuckle. After hundreds of years of selection and cultivation, it is extremely tolerant of drought and poor soil, suitable for planting in barren mountainous areas, and its flower yield is also extremely high, far exceeding the yield of other varieties.

3. Tree-form honeysuckle

Also known as four-season honeysuckle, it is a woody plant. It is a variety selected and improved from Damao honeysuckle, and it develops well in Shandong, Henan, and Hebei.

4. Lazy Man honeysuckle

Lazy Man honeysuckle is also a woody plant, obtained by grafting tree-form honeysuckle; the specific location and time cannot be verified.

5. Red honeysuckle

Red honeysuckle, as the name suggests, has flowers different in color from those of other honeysuckles. Its flowers are red and white, very distinctive. It is a mutant of tree-form honeysuckle.

III. How Do You Water Honeysuckle?

The watering principle for honeysuckle is: water when dry, stop when wet, and keep soil moisture at 30%.

Spring and summer: In spring, temperatures rise and it is the peak growing season for honeysuckle. If the amount of watering is sufficient, the plant will easily grow leggy, and the stems and leaves will mature early; in this case, less watering should be done in summer. Conversely, if watering is controlled in spring and the plant grows normally, then more watering should be done in summer, because summer weather is hot and evaporation is high, so the watering frequency should be increased, but do not water excessively at one time, to avoid waterlogging that causes the plant's roots to rot.

Winter: Honeysuckle's cold tolerance is still relatively strong. At this time, watering should be appropriately reduced, and watering should be done according to the degree of soil dryness and moisture. If the soil is relatively dry, then water, keeping the soil moist.