- Lifespan
- 20–40 years or more in cultivation
- Size & Weight
- Climbing or scrambling woody vine, 6–8 m in length
- Habitat
- Deciduous and mixed woodlands, hedgerows, scrubland, and woodland edges throughout the UK.
- UK Distribution
- Native throughout the UK, found in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Present year-round (deciduous, but persistent in mild winters).
- Diet
- Not applicable—a flowering plant that produces nectar and seeds.
- Predators
- Not applicable—but foliage eaten by some insects and caterpillars; berries consumed by birds.
- Mating Season
- Flowering June to August; fruiting August to October.
- Breeding
- Not applicable to plants, but produces clusters of fragrant tubular flowers pollinated by insects and birds; develops red berries in autumn containing multiple seeds.
- Behaviour
- A vigorous climber using twining stems to ascend trees, shrubs, and structures. Highly attractive to pollinators, particularly long-tongued insects and hummingbird hawk-moths. Berries provide important autumn food for migrant birds such as thrushes.