AUSTRALIAN HONEY PLANTS 



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clear translucent liquid is ejected from two tubes on the 

 back of the aphides. This liquid hardens to a white candy- 

 like substance called manna, hence the name. This is 

 also true of other Eucalypts. The author has stood, with 

 the sun behind an Apple box tree and watched the clear 

 liquid ejected by the aphides falling like rain, until the 



'crust" a 



1/4 



twigs on the ground were covered with a 

 of an inch in thickness and snow white. 



Muzzlewood, (E. stellulata). A limited quantity of 

 amber-coloured honey during March, April and May in 

 New South Wales, also known as "Sallee." 



Messmate, {E. obliqua). At first glance this is not 

 unlike a Stringybark tree. The foliage is rarely dense 

 and the buds are quite unlike those of the Stringybark. 

 The trunk and limbs are 

 covered with fibrous but 

 smooth bark, which has 

 no deep fissures like the 

 Common Stringybark. It 

 blooms every second year, 

 but yields a crop only 

 every four or five years. 

 The flowers show about 

 November, and yield 

 pollen, also a m i 1 d- 

 flavoured honey golden-amber in colour. Heated to 150° 

 F., very little scum rises to the surface. This is the 

 "Stringybark" of Tasmania. An average of 60 lbs. per 

 colony has been gathered from Messmate. Messmate is 

 easily the first Eucalypt to bear a crop of blossom after 

 burning by bush fire. The stool shoots 2 years old 

 frequently carry a full crop of buds. 



Mahogany, {E. botryoides), is distributed right along 

 the east coast of Australia from Victoria to Queensland. 

 Its flowering period is rather uncertain, ranging from 

 November to March. Good for pollen, and also yields a 

 pale-coloured honey. The flavour is inclined to be acid 

 and is rather peculiar. Still some very large crops have 

 been harvested from this tree. 



Messmate. 



