Summer Honey Plants. 37^ 



at the last convention at Cincinnati, can vouch, is unsur- 

 passed in flavor. Mr. Muth well said that he wished no 

 finer. This tree grows to the height of seventy feet. The 

 trunk is leafless to near the top, and varies little in size 

 from the earth to the top. The small, white blossoms 

 nestle among the long palm leaves in pi-ofusion, and are 

 rich in both nectar and pollen, from June ist till August. 

 The tree is found from the Carolinas to the Gulf. 



At the same time with the above, the white blossom of 

 the black mangrove, Avicennia tomentosa, and its near 

 relative, Avicennia oblongifolia, come forth with their 

 abundant and incomparable nectar which hangs in drops. 



Fig. 181. 



The honey from this and the cabbage palmetto is clear, and 

 as fine and beautiful as that of white clover. This tree 

 is confined to the Peninsula of Florida, where it is regarded 

 as the best honey plant that grows in that locality. 



Here we see the danger of common names. This is not 

 a mangrove at all; though the leaves resemble those of the 

 true mangrove, they are more tomentose or hairy, and, like 

 that tree, grows down to the very waters' edge, so is not 

 affected by drouth. This is an evergreen, and forms an 



