9?.6 



GLEANINGS IN BEE OULTTTRE 



RANDOM NOTES ON BEE BOTANY 



The Largest Flower Cluster in the World 



BY JOHN H. LOVELL 



The Talipot palm grows for thirty or 

 more years, until it reaches the height of 

 sixty feet without blooming once. Its home 

 is in the clamp forests of Ceylon. Then 

 from its apex there springs an enormous 

 cluster of flowers 40 feet long by 35 feet 

 wide, composed of innumerable blossoms. 

 The flowering period lasts for about four 

 weeks. As soon as the fruit matures the 

 whole tree dies like the century plant. It 

 blooms only once. 



FOLIAGE AS A SOURCE OP NECTAR. 



The leaves of the partridge pea and of 

 cotton are the source of a large quantity of 

 nectar. When the atmospheric conditions 

 are just right a bee can often obtain a 



The Talipot palm (Curi/plta iniibiactilatd) in 1 

 cluster in the world, 40 feet tall by 35 feet wide. 

 Miss Scidmore.) 



load from one or two glands. Phillips 

 states that majugua, a common plant in 

 Porto Rico, has extra-floral nectaries on the 

 leaves, and that he has seen ants working 

 on them. The leaves of many of our native 

 herbs and trees also possess nectaries, as 

 the vetches, castor-oil bean, the brambles, 

 cherries and jjlum, poplars and maples; 

 but, unfortunately, they secrete very little 

 nectar. But could we not obtain by selec- 

 tion varieties that would yield nectar abun- 

 dantly? If this could be done the possibil- 

 ities can hardly be imagined. Various 

 ferns, which are, of course, without flowers, 

 also have nectaries. 



THE USEFUL BLUEGUM. 



In the delta of the 

 Orinoco River there 

 grows the mauritia 

 palm-tree, on which a 

 whole tribe of Indians 

 depends for existence. 

 They dwell among its 

 branches, and it af- 

 fords them fuel, food, 

 wine, cloth, twine, etc. 

 It is well called the 

 " tree of life." 



The blueg-um {Euca- 

 lyptus globulus), now 

 largely planted in Cal- 

 ifornia, has almost as 

 many uses. The very 

 hard close - grained 

 wood is valuable for 

 fuel, furniture, tele- 

 gTaph-poles, railway- 

 ties, vehicles, fence- 

 posts, wood paving, 

 etc. The flowers are a 

 source of much honey ; 

 the leaves and twigs 

 yield a medicinal oil, 

 and the bark may 

 ■prove of importance 

 in tanning and paper- 

 making. The trees 

 form excellent wind- 

 breaks, destroy mala- 

 ria, drain damp soil, 

 and are a handsome 

 landscape tree. It is 

 f h e fastest-gi'owing 

 tree in the world, and 

 one of the tallest. Pho- 

 tographs of the flow- 



loom. The largest flower- 

 (From a photograph by 



