Leycesteria formosa

Taxobox
name = "Leycesteria formosa"

---

image_width = 240px
image_caption = "Leycesteria formosa" foliage and flowers
regnum = Plantae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis = Magnoliopsida
ordo = Dipsacales
familia = Caprifoliaceae
genus = "Leycesteria"
species = "L. formosa"
binomial = "Leycesteria formosa"
binomial_authority = Wall.

"Leycesteria formosa" (Himalayan Honeysuckle, Flowering Nutmeg, Himalaya Nutmeg or Pheasant Berry) is a deciduous shrub in the family Caprifoliaceae, native to the Himalaya and southwestern China.

It has soft, hollow, upright green stems 1-2 m tall, which only last for 2-5 years before collapsing and being replaced by new stems from the roots. The leaves are opposite, dark green, 6-18 cm long and 4-9 cm broad, with an entire or wavy margin. The flowers are produced on 5-10 cm long pendulous racemes; each flower is small, white, subtended by a purple bract. The fruit is a soft purple-black berry 1 cm diameter, eaten by birds which disperse the seeds.

"Leycesteria formosa" was popularly used in Victorian shrubberies.

It is seldom found in contemporary British gardens, though attempts have been made in recent years to popularise the species in Britain again with new cultivated varieties appearing in most garden centres.

It is considered a weed in New Zealand

References

* [http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=110&taxon_id=200022271 Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal: "Leycesteria formosa"]