Lonicera morrowii A.Gray
Morrow's honeysuckle
Morrow's honeysuckle
May 16,
Myles Standish State Forest, Plymouth
Led by Commodore Perry, the US Expedition of 1852-54 ("Perry Expedition") had a mission to initiate open trade with Japan. Multiple previous attempts (4 American and 14 international expeditions) had failed to initiate trade. Perry succeeded to sign the treaty. The other goal of the expedition was gathering information on natural history. Rev. S. Wells Williams and Dr. James Morrow were appointed plant collectors and brought back both dried samples and live plants. A list of plants collected in Japan was then compiled by Asa Gray, who described a new species of honeysuckle from Japan and named it after its collector. The plant later on became the most aggressive of naturalized exotic shrubby honeysuckles, all of which ended up on the invasive plant list.