Podcast Script (Honeysuckle 2)

This is a copy of my Podcast Script, for those of you who are deaf, or just hate the sound of my voice. Or maybe the sound just sucks. Whatever.

I don't know how to gracefully introduce this, so I'll just start talking.
The plant I'm going to talk about is the Japanese Honeysuckle, a climbing vine from the Family Caprifoliaceae, or the Honeysuckle Family. It's scientific name is Lonicera Japonica.
So how can you tell it apart from other plants? Well, the vines of this plant can grow up to 10 meters or more provided they have a climbing surface, and flower in the late spring. The flowers are sweetly scented and range in color from yellow to white. The leaves are arranged opposite each other on the vines and are fuzzier when younger and lose this hair as they age. The berries are small, dark blue and spherical and contain many seeds.
They are native to Eastern Asia, in areas like Japan and China, hence the name. However, they can also be found on the Davis High School Campus, growing on the fence near the O wing next to the MPR Parking lot.
So why is Japanese Honeysuckle growing here as opposed to Eastern Asia? It's because in the 1800s, Japanese Honeysuckle was introduced to the United States as an ornamental plant. However, because there were no natural enemies to Japanese Honeysuckle in America, they quickly spread throughout the states. In addition to Eastern Asia and the States, it can be found in Argentina, Mexico, New Zealand, and numerous Pacific Islands.
Where it grows natively, Japanese Honeysuckle is valued for it's mendicinal qualities. It possesses antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties and plays an integral part in traditional Chinese medicine.
However, where it has been introduced, Japanese Honeysuckle has been devastating. Over the years, Japanese Honeysuckle has done severe damage to many woodlands, dominating native ground plants and climbing trees, restricting their sap flow. Scientists also suspect that this plant is also capable of releasing allelopathic chemicals, chemicals which supress the growth of nearby plants.
Luckily, it doesn't really look like the one we've got on campus is capable of dominating the other plants it shares the fence with, much less our entire school ecosystem.
So anyways, that's all I have to say. If this ever helps you on Jeopardy or something, be sure to send me something nice.

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