Nowadays, developing functional carbon materials from cheap natural materials is a highly compelling topic. Different from most explored biomass, honeysuckle is inherently rich in nitrogen and sulfur heteroatoms, and it has many advantages for production on a large scale. Here, hierarchical porous carbon (HPC), derived from waste honeysuckle via an environmentally friendly and economically viable method, has been reported as an anode for rechargeable lithium ion batteries. The as-fabricated HPC exhibits favorable features for electrochemical energy storage performance such as high specific surface area (830 m2 g−1), hierarchical three-dimensional (3D) pore network and heteroatoms (N and S) doping effects. HPC, when evaluated as an anode material for lithium ion batteries, shows superior cycling stability (maintaining a reversible capacity of 1215 mAh g−1 at the current density of 100 mA g−1 after 100 cycles) and excellent rate capability (370 mAh g−1 at the current density of 20 A g−1). Furthermore, owing to the appropriate heteroatoms doping, a high initial coulombic efficiency of 64.7% can be achieved. A widespread comparison with the literature also showed that the honeysuckle derived porous carbon was one of the most promising carbon-based anodes for high-rate lithium ion batteries.