Latin Name
Lonicera japonica

General Description
This ornamental flower is prescribed for sores, swellings, fevers, colds and flu. Chinese medicine practitioners use it as an antibiotic. In addition the flower is believed to have some value in the treatment of chronic conjunctivitis and other eye conditions. The best variety of the plant has several large, pale-yellow unopened flowers. Considered a sweet, cold herb in traditional Chinese medicine, it grows throughout China and is harvested in May and June.

Target Ailments
Honeysuckle flower taken internally for:

• Sores and inflammations, particularly of the breast, throat and eyes; heat rash; and boils.
  
• Fevers, colds and flu; salmonella and other microbial infections.
  
• Intestinal abscesses.
  
• Painful urination and dysentery.

Preparations
You can find honeysuckle flowers in bulk at Asian markets and pharmacies and Western health food stores. The herb is also available in tablet form.
Combinations: The flowers, together with platycodon and great burdock fruit, form a mixture used to treat pain and swelling in the throat. A preparation with skullcap and coptis is prescribed for high fever. When skullcap alone is added to honeysuckle flowers, the blend is employed to discharge pus from boils. For advice on other combinations and dosages, consult a Chinese medicine practitioner.

Special Information

• Chinese medicine practitioners advise against using honeysuckle flower to treat sores exuding clear fluid; it should be used only in cases where there is a thick, yellow discharge. And they do not prescribe this herb for the type of diarrhea associated with stomach rather than intestinal problems.
  
• Test-tube studies indicate a possible antibiotic effect.
  
• Injected into acupuncture points, preparations of the herb have been used to treat pneumonia and bacillary dysentery.
  
• In a laboratory test, honeysuckle flower seemed to lower the cholesterol levels in rats.
  
• Practitioners have found the stem of the honeysuckle, when prepared in a soup, also useful in clearing up abscesses and sores.