Honeysuckle: An Excellent Greening Plant That Is Both Medicinal and Pollution-Resistant

Honeysuckle is widely distributed in our country, from Liaoning in the north, Shaanxi in the west, Hunan in the south, to Yunnan and Guizhou in the southwest. It is a woody vine, evergreen, fragrant flower that grows wild in the mountains and is widely cultivated in gardens.

In small courtyards, they can climb walls and reach into the air, expanding green coverage; in summer they also bring fragrance throughout the courtyard, which can ease the restlessness of summer heat. Honeysuckle belongs to the genus Lonicera in the family Caprifoliaceae. Its paired, inch-long tubular axillary flowers bloom side by side; when they first open, both stamens and petals are white, as white as jade, and after two or three days they turn golden yellow. As the earlier ones open and the later ones follow, one yellow and one white, they look like gold and silver side by side, hence the name "twin flowers."

Honeysuckle prefers semi-shade and moisture, is tolerant of waterlogging, drought, and cold, is not choosy about soil, is easy to propagate, and can be managed extensively, with fertilizer and water supplied according to growth conditions. Except in winter, cuttings, layering, and division can all be done in the other seasons. Honeysuckle has strong resistance to sulfur dioxide, making it an excellent pollution-resistant greening plant, and it is also a very good nectar plant. The flowers, stems, and leaves can be used as medicine. The flower buds contain flavonoids, including luteolin and luteolin glucoside, as well as inositol, saponins, and so on. It has the effect of clearing heat and reducing fever, and is often used for heat-toxin sores and carbuncles, damp-heat dysentery, externally contracted wind-heat, or the early stage of epidemic febrile disease. Antibacterial tests show that it is highly sensitive to Staphylococcus aureus, moderately sensitive to Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and mildly sensitive to Escherichia coli, Shigella sonnei, and Salmonella typhi, and it also has an antiviral effect. Honeysuckle can combine with cholesterol, thereby reducing the intestinal absorption of cholesterol in rabbits. Common Chinese patent medicines: "Yinqiao Jiedu Wan," "Yinqiao Jiedu Pian," and the famous "Yinqiao San" all have honeysuckle as their main ingredient. In recent years, experimental studies have shown that honeysuckle also has a certain anti-tumor effect. For medicinal use, honeysuckle from Mixian, Henan, is considered the best, and the commercial product is specially called "Mi honeysuckle"; the "Dong honeysuckle" produced in Shandong has a larger output and is also relatively good. Honeysuckle is always used medicinally as flower buds; the best grade, "tip honeysuckle," refers to those that are small, yellow-white, and whose tips have not opened.