Lonicera confusa, a traditional Chinese medicine herb for treating cold, flu, acute fever, and so forth, is often grown artificially
in acidic soils and suffers from phosphorus (P) deficiency. A five-year field experiment was carried out to study the colonization rate,
growth, nutrition, and chlorogenic acid content of Lonicera confusa seedlings inoculated with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi,
Glomus etunicatum and Glomus intraradices. Before transplanting into a field, both AM-inoculated and uninoculated control plants
were cultured in nursery beds. In the plants inoculated with the AM fungi, the colonization rate decreased linearly with time and
a greater decrease was observed in the plants inoculated with G. intraradices than with G. etunicatum, while the AM colonization
increased from 0% to 12.1% in the uninoculated control plants 5 years after transplanting. Plant height, crown diameter, number
of new branches, and flower yield increased significantly by AM inoculation as compared to the uninoculated control. Phosphorus
concentrations in leaves and flowers increased, and plant uptake of nutrients, e.g., nitrogen (N), P, and potassium (K), was also
enhanced significantly by AM inoculation. The Lonicera confusa seedlings had a better response to inoculation of G. intraradices than
G. etunicatum in both growth and chlorogenic acid content in flowers. In contrast, both plant P uptake and P concentrations in leaves
and flowers were similar between two fungal inoculations. The positive responses of Lonicera confusa to AM inoculation in growth,
nutrient uptake, flowering, and chlorogenic acid content in flowers suggested that AM inoculation in nursery beds could promote the
plant growth and increase chlorogenic acid content in flowers of Lonicera confusa when grown on acidic and P-deficient soils.