300 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Apr. 15. 



A LITTLE CALIFOKNIA BEE BOTANY. 



INTERESTING DESCRIPTION OF SOME IMPOR- 

 TANT HONEY-PRODUCING FLOWERS. 



By A. Norton. 



Several California honey- producing plants of 

 considerable Importance are either entirely 

 omitted or but merely mentioned in Prof. Cook's 

 Guide, which has, however, given quite a com- 



a.ct a = Sepals of strontfly incurved Calyx. . 



b.b.b. = Slender Perats.deep ladle -5lmped,5preadiagberw|eii Sepals, 

 ccc = .. ,. sramens.olso coming out from befween ocpals. 

 d'd.d - Three, lobed style, o^ c^ Little 5lemlet,.^epal5 .Mamens 



m fact whole flower a dpiicote blue . excepting only the ycHow 



ontlxers.or polLen- sacks, 



prehensive and very accurate account of the 

 honey-flora of this State. Many of these plants 

 are already in full bloom (Feb. 25), and have 

 been blooming for three weeks; and they are 

 furnishing plenty of business for the bees. The 

 many species of California lilac (Ceanothus) 



are among the early bloomers. The typical 

 species of this genus, Ceanothus thyrsiflorus, 

 or true California lilac, is perhaps the most 

 beautiful of all. It is a tall shrub or small tree 

 from 6 to 15 feet high, with a graceful habit of 

 branching, thick, oblong leaves about 1 to 1}4 

 inches long, which are very glossy and shining 

 above, and, in February and March, thickly 

 sprinkled with clusters of beautiful bright-blue 

 flowers. The shape and 

 habit of the clusters 

 are much that of the 

 common lilac of East- 

 ern dooryards; but the 

 small flowers are en- 

 tirely unlike those of 

 the cultivated shrub, as 

 is every other aspect 

 and relationship of the 

 ceanothus. It belongs 

 to the buckthorn fam- 

 ily. The flowers are 

 very fragrant, varying 

 in this respect with the 

 species, and bees work 

 on it very freely. The 

 anthers, bearing much 

 pollen, are borne on long 

 slender filaments that 

 protrude from between 

 the curved back petals 

 of the little florets; and 

 the bees gather light- 

 yellow pollen there- 

 from. Between 20 and 

 30 species are found on 

 the Pacific slope. The 

 species just described 

 ranges from Monterey 

 to Humboldt County. 

 It is replaced in the 

 Sierra Nevada Moun- 

 tain region by two sim- 

 ilar species, one with 

 white and one with 

 blue flowers. Other spe- 



-<'klUS ^^^^ ^""^ much more 



1*1' . * scrubby in growth, with 



smaller leaves; and 

 they help largely to 

 make up those peculiar 

 impenetrable chaparral 

 thickets (mixed with 

 chamiso brush and cha- 

 parral oak) which are 

 so characteristic of the 

 California Coast Range. 

 Ceanothus America- 

 nus is the "Jersey Tea" of Revolutionary 

 fame found in New Jersey, etc.; and C. ovalis, 

 found among dry rocky places from Vermont to 

 Wisconsin, are the only eastern representatives. 

 The California species are mostly found from 

 the central portion of the State to Oregon 



