186 



AMERICAN HONEY PLANTS 



comes from the fact that the bud in the head at the top is eaten in 

 lieu of cabbage. 



"The saw pahnetto is decidedly different in the nectar it yields. 

 Saw palmetto honey, even unsealed, may be called a good honey, and 

 it is, too. When ripened it is a honey that makes a name for itself 

 when enough care is taken by the producer to have it unmixed with 

 other nectars. 



"I write from personal experience on the east coast of Florida." — 

 L. K. Smith, Gleanings, page 39, 1909. 



Fig. 104. The palmettos are a conspicuous feature of the Florida landscape. 



The saw palmetto (Serenoa serrulata), often called scrub palmetto 

 (Fig. 103), is a low growing little palm, found on dry soils in the Gulf 

 Coast region. In the southern portion of its range, in peninsular Florida, 

 it attains the proportions of a small tree. There it sometimes reaches a 

 height of 20 feet, with erect or inclined trunk. Further norththe stem is 

 almost invariably underground. Large areas of pine lands are covered 

 with it. 



The blooming time is April and May. O. O. Poppleton wrote con- 

 cerning his calendar of the year: 



"April — Saw palmetto flow commences early in the month and con- 

 tinues until last of May. Our apiary work these two months is ex- 

 tracting, building up all colonies and replacing poor queens." — Bee- 

 keepers' Review, page 11, 1893. 



Concerning the honey flow from saw palmetto we quote E. G. Baldwin 

 as follows : 



"Tlie honey from saw palmetto is lemon-yellow in color, thick and 



