Caprifoliaceae are perennial and mostly woody plants that include vines, shrubs, and small trees. The family contains about a dozen genera and perhaps 400 species, of wide distribution, chiefly in the North temperate zone, or of mountainous areas in the tropics.
The flowers have a 4- or 5-lobed calyx, which is usually small, and a 4- or 5-lobed corolla which often forms a substantial tube. The lobes may be equal, or formed into two lips with 4 lobes for the upper lip, and 1 large lobe for the lower lip. The 4 or 5 stamens attach to the tube, alternating with the lobes, with the fruiting portion of the pistil below where the calyx and corolla lobes originate. The fruit, usually a fleshy berry, has 2 to 5 seed-forming divisions. The leaves are opposite and broad and being either entire or having several lobes or leaflets. The leaves sometimes join together to form a disc around the stem (as in the honeysuckles).