AUSTRALIAN HONEY PLANTS 



261 



Pig. 94. Stringybark (Gippsland). 



This is 

 For full 



Needless to say this is very easy to put up with as it 

 guarantees a supply for brood-rearing in early spring. 



The honey is of crystal amber colour, and fine flavour, 

 so that it sells well even 

 against lighter-coloured 

 honey. This is the main 

 source of supply at Fern- 

 bank, Victoria, where E. 

 Penglase has harvested 

 some huge crops. At times 

 the bloom straggles 

 throughout the year, then 

 it varies the procedure by 

 a burst of blossom in the 

 autumn. 



Stringybark, (Tasmanian), {E. ohliqua) 

 the "Messmate" of the Victorian forest, 

 description see Messmate. 



Swamp Gum, {E. paludosa). This is the true Swamp 

 gum sometimes referred to as White gum. It is not unlike 

 the Cider gum in general appearance and it may not be 

 altogether incorrect to say that this is a form developed 

 from varying geological formation. The flowers bear a 

 fair quantity of creamy pollen and aniber-coloured honey. 

 The density is not so great probably owing to the damp- 

 ness of the months during bloom — April to November. 

 The flavour of the honey is not unlike that of our 

 Spotted gum. 



Spotted Gum of New South Wales and Queensland, 

 (E. haemastoma) . Along the coastal districts of the 

 Mother State a winter flow is sometimes obtained from 

 this eucalypt. The N.S.W. Spotted gum blooms once in 

 three years, and the buds often hang on the trees for 

 fifteen months before bursting. Nevertheless it is of con- 

 siderable value to the apiarist. The density of the honey 

 is hardly equal to that of Yellow box. 



Spotted Gum, (Victorian), {E. goniocalyx). From 

 the angular (gonia) ridges on the buds. (The impression 

 of these ridges is best conveyed by likening them to cigars 



