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AMERICAN HONEY PLANTS 



Asia. P. persicara, or lady's thumb, the large-flowered kind, is most often 

 called heartsease, and is also said to be the best honey producer. It is an 

 introduced species, coming from Europe, and is still widely scattered 

 through the sale of clover seed, the seed of this plant being commonly 

 mixed with red clover seed. 



The honey gathered from these plants varies greatly, both in quantity 

 and quality. Some species do not seem to yield at all, at least not reg- 

 ularly, while others produce large quantities of nectar. The blooming 



Fi 



Two species of heartsease or smartweed. 



period in the North is from midsummer until frost, and occasionally large 

 yields are reported, an average of 200 pounds per colony not being the 

 highest on record, from this source alone. Sometimes honey from these 

 plants is of very good quality, while from other species it is very dark and 

 of inferior grade. The better grade of honey is sometimes designated as 

 heartsease honey, while the poorer grade is called smartweed honey. 

 These plants grow in moist fields everywhere, and frequently come up 



