Synonym: Distegia involucrata.  Lonicera involucrata. (Twinberry)
Caprifoliaceae (Honeysuckle Family)

Montane, subalpine. Woodlands. Spring, summer.
Ryman Creek Trail, June 8, 2000.

The Twinberry shrub is common, colorful, and distinctive.  Its paired drooping yellow tube flowers are shielded by maroon bracts which grow deep red as the flower fades and the intensely black and shiny berries mature.  The bush commonly is 3-6 feet tall and wide but can be as tall as 9 feet.  Leaves are two to three inches long. The berries are temptingly black and juicy but they are also intensely bitter and perhaps poisonous.

The Greek "di" (two) and "stegos" (roof) give rise to the genus name and refer to the two bracts sheltering the flowers and berries. "Involucrata" is Latin for "wrapper", thus the common botanical term "involucre", the whorl of bracts below a flower.

The  Distegia genus was named by Rafinesque in 1838; Linnaeus named the Lonicera genus in 1753 for the German botanist Adam Lonitzer, 1528-1585.  John Richardson found the species in west-central Canada on the Franklin Expedition of 1819-1822 and named the species Zylosteum involucratum in 1823. The species was renamed Lonicera involucrata by Joseph Banks in 1825 and after several other renamings was named Distegia involucrata by Cockerell in 1905.

Synonym: Distegia involucrata.  Lonicera involucrata. (Twinberry)
Caprifoliaceae (Honeysuckle Family)

Montane, subalpine. Woodlands. Spring, summer.
Burro Bridge Trail, July 6, 2007.

Synonym: Distegia involucrata.  Lonicera involucrata. (Twinberry)
Caprifoliaceae (Honeysuckle Family)

Montane, subalpine. Woodlands. Spring, summer.
Lake Hope Trail, August 7, 2005.