You may have guessed immediately that this is wild honeysuckle. Make sure by looking more closely at the flowers.........
What elegant flowers, you might say......... so what about a few more details.
The genus name Lonicera has no meaning in Latin apparently, but comes from the name, Adam Lonicer, or Lonitzer, a German botanist of the 16th century. Almost 200 species have been discovered since that time; the common names for some of these sound more interesting: take the English 'honeysuckle' for a start. 'Honey' must refer to the sweet nectar attracting insects as food; 'suckle' is the verb describing an infant taking sustenance from its mother's breasts. So insects absorb the nectar, while of course, acting as useful pollinators from one flower to another. This is said to occur more often during the night, by nocturnal insects such as moths, & when the fragrance is more pronounced. (I leave some of my readers to verify this.)
Other common names are 'chèvre-feuille' in French, 'Geissblat' in German, 'Caprifoglio' (from the plant family) in Italian, & 'Kamperfoelie' or 'Geitenblad' in Dutch, 'Kaprifol' in Swedish.
There is another naturally-occurring plant like the one in the photos, among the many bushes surrounding the swimming pool. We hope, incidentally that this Club facility will be available in a few weeks, considering the record-breaking temperatures we are experiencing this month of May.
In the meantime, don't miss these sunny lunchtimes on our Restaurant terrace, where our Chef, 'David-le-Grand', is rapidly making himself a reputation for excellent dishes at very reasonable prices.
A vous de jouer !
