Amur honeysuckle, a leafy shrub native to eastern Asia, was imported to the United States in the late 19th century as an ornamental plant, valued for the quick, dense cover it gave to new landscaping. Today it is a staple inclusion on invasive-species watch lists across the Midwest and elsewhere. If you've ever hiked a wooded trail during early spring and run into one stubborn green layer already leafed out while all the rest was still bare, you may have met it.
