AUSTRALIAN HONEY PLANTS 



1^77 



flowers — the Needle bnsli hedges are sure to attract the 

 honey -l)ees. The inconspicuous minute flowers are thickly 

 clustered among the needles. This plant is one of 

 Nature's misfits, for the 

 stigma is imprisoned by 

 the staminode petals and 

 self- fertilised before the 

 nectar is available for 



FeHTILUEO 



Pnf\LS 



Ivji^nlHEo 

 FoaicLE 



(OPElJ) 



bees and other insects 

 Strange to say, other 

 l^lants nmke us(» of almost 

 similar means to effect 

 cross fertilisation. 



The Hdkea family is 

 s t r o ]i g 1 y i-epresented 

 throughout Australasia. 

 Vincent Jackson, B.A., 

 i-ecords over sixty tiny 

 flowers on a twig tliree 

 inches long, yet the 

 matured nut — containing 

 two winged seeds — is 

 almost as large as a hen's 

 egg and hard enough to 

 turn the edge of any 

 chisel. The above ex- 

 l)lains why bees cannot gather pollen from Needle bush. 



Native Currant, (CoprosDia ) . A native shrub flowering 

 in late s])ring. It grows about 8 or 10 feet high and has 

 miniature round leaves, and tiny white flowers of very 

 sweet fragi-ance. Bees work on it very thickly, l:)ut there 

 is not sufficient of the i)lants to determine tlie colour of 

 the honey. There is abundance of yellowy ]>o]len. 



Orange, (Citrus (ntraiifinm). Tn portions of New 

 South Wales, where Orange groves are numerous, con- 

 siderable honey is gathered from the blossom. The honey 

 is water-white and fairly dense. The temi^ting delicacy 

 of the flavour is a class by itself. Americans consider it 



THflV«\El(T, 



OF 



Needle Bilsti 



[;Lf\N» Winged Seed 



Fig 99 



