628 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



OCTOBEB, 1921 



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IS IT HEARTSEASE? 



Should Beekeepers Use Common Name or Latin 

 Name for this Plant ? 



The ABC and X Y Z of Bee Culture, as 

 well as many other good authorities, call a 

 certain honey-bearing plant "heartease. " It 

 would seem to matter but very little just 

 what we call a certain article so long as we 

 all understand what is meant by the name, 

 but where do you get your authority for 

 calling Polygonum persicaria heartsease? I 

 will admit that the name sounds better than 

 smartweed when one is offering honey for 

 sale; but why not call it polygonum honey? 

 This would somewhat mystify the prospect- 

 ive purchaser, and that is what the average 

 American seems to desire. 



I have looked up all of the authorities 

 within my immediate reach, and here are 

 some extracts from them- Webster's Una- 

 bridged (not a recent edition) says: 



"Heartsease — Ease of the heart, etc.; 

 viola tricolor; called also pansy." 



Chambers' Encyclopedia says: 



"Y- tricolor, the pansy, violet, hearts- 

 ease, etc." 



Then it goes on to enumerate the various 

 violets, pansies (viola), and is entirely too 

 long to quote in full. This same authoritjs 

 under the head of "Natural order, Polygon- 

 aceae, gives a description of numerous spe- 

 cies of this plant that corresponds to what 

 we here in Missouri call ' ' smartweed, ' ' of 

 which some three or four varieties grow in 

 this vicinity. This same authority includes 

 buckwheat in this order, but does not any- 

 where in the description mention hearts- 

 ease. 



Henderson's Handbook of Plants says: 



"Viola, violet, heartsease; pansy- The 

 old Latin name used by Virgil," etc. Under 

 this head Peter Henderson described many 

 species of violet or pansy, but no mention is 

 made of anything that corresponds to what 

 we call smartweed. 



Turning to Polygonum, natural order 

 Polygonaceae, I find this: 



"P. ht/dropiper is our well-known smart- 

 weed." On the opposite page is an excel- 

 lent illustration of an ornamental variety 

 having variegated leaves, which is very 

 much like some of the varieties growing 

 here- Nowhere, however, in the article re- 

 ferring to this order does he mention hearts- 

 ease. 



I believe the late Prof. A. J. Cook called 

 the plant referred to "heartsease"; but in 

 glancing over his Beekeeper's Guide I fail 

 to find mentioned either polygonum, hearts- 

 ease, or viola- Now, is polygonum the same 

 as heartsease, or is viola the same as tri- 



color? One or tlie other must be wrong. 

 I know that many plants have many differ- 

 ent local names; but. it seems to me that 

 we beekeepers ought to know heartsease 

 when we see it, and not call a plant hearts- 

 ease when it is not so known to botanists. 



As stated above, we have several varie- 

 ties here on the Missouri Eiver bottom 

 lands as well as on the smaller streams. One 

 looks very much like the cut in the ABC 

 and X Y Z of Bee Culture, the flower being 

 rather insignificant and of a greenish-white 

 color, while the plant is rather coarse and 

 large- I do not think this variety yields 

 much nectar. From that we have varieties 

 ranging up to one that bears a beautiful 



Heartsease, sometimes called .smartweed. 



well-rounded-out flower of a delicate pink 

 color. This flower is handsome enough to be 

 entitled to a place in the flower garden. All 

 of these varieties grow in great profusion 

 on overflow land, and also more or less in 

 cornfields after the last cultivation, as well 

 as on wheat stubble when the land has not 

 been broken too soon after the wheat har- 

 vest- Some years this honey is gathered 

 along with boneset, and blends very admir- 

 ably with it; but when the polygonum is in 

 great profusion the bees seem to neglect the 

 boneset and take almost exclusively to 

 smartweed. The honey is pale amber in 

 color, of good body when well ripened on 

 the hives, and in quality, to my taste, it 



