Terms of flowering honey plants in the USA and Canada

According to observations of naturalists and beekeepers.

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Scientific name:

Prunus armeniaca

Life form:

Tree.

Flowering time:

no data.

Flowering period

in Idaho for this plant is: MarchApril.

NECTAR PRODUCTION: 
Minor
 
SOURCE FOR HONEY BEES:
Minor

General distribution:

Prunus armeniaca (other scientific name: Armeniaca vulgaris), the most commonly cultivated apricot species, also called ansu apricot, Siberian apricot, Tibetan apricot, is a species of Prunus, classified with the plum in the subgenus Prunus. The native range is somewhat uncertain due to its extensive prehistoric cultivation, though almost certainly somewhere in Asia. It is extensively cultivated in many countries and has escaped into the wild in many places.

Map of distribution and habitat in USA

This plant is present in at least 11 states/provinces in this country.

See The Map

Botanical description:

Prunus armeniaca is a small tree, 8–12 m tall, with a trunk up to 40 cm in diameter and a dense, spreading canopy. The leaves are ovate, 5–9 cm long and 4–8 cm wide, with a rounded base, a pointed tip, and a finely serrated margin. The flowers are 2–4.5 cm in diameter, with five white to pinkish petals; they are produced singly or in pairs in early spring before the leaves. The fruit is a drupe similar to a small peach, 1.5–2.5 cm diameter (larger in some modern cultivars), from yellow to orange, often tinged red on the side most exposed to the sun; its surface can be smooth (botanically described as glabrous) or velvety with very short hairs (botanically: pubescent). The flesh is usually firm and not very juicy. Its taste can range from sweet to tart. The single seed is enclosed in a hard, stony shell, often called a "stone", with a grainy, smooth texture except for three ridges running down one side.

Seasonal development:

Major cultivars of the USA are self-fruitful and do not require a pollinizer. Honey bees are the major pollinator.

Flowers blooming before leaf emergence. Flowering in March – April; fruiting May – July.


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List of honey plants that may be blooming now in Idaho
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Salix bebbiana (aka: Bebb willow, Beak willow, Beaked willow, Long-beaked willow, Diamond willow, Chaton, Petit Minou, Smooth Bebb willow)

Rubus ursinus (aka: California blackberry, California dewberry, California grapeleaf dewberry, Douglasberry, Pacific blackberry)

Rubus laciniatus (aka: Cutleaf blackberry, Evergreen blackberry, Slashed blackberry)

Rhamnus cathartica (aka: Common buckthorn, European buckthorn, Dahurian buckthorn)

Rhus glabra (aka: Smooth sumac, Common sumac, Rocky Mountain sumac, Red sumac, Western sumac, White sumac)

Salix geyeriana (aka: Geyer willow, Silver willow)

Salix lutea (aka: Yellow willow)

Allium schoenoprasum (aka: Chives)

Brassica napus (aka: Rapeseed)

Sinapis arvensis (aka: Charlock mustard, California rape, Charlock, Corn mustard, Canola, Kaber mustard, Rapeseed mustard)

Cirsium arvense (aka: Creeping Thistle, Canada thistle, Field thistle, California thistle, Lettuce from hell thistle, Corn thistle, Cursed thistle, Green thistle, Hard thistle, Perennial thistle, Prickly thistle, Small-flowered thistle, Way thistle, Stinger-needles)

Salix brachycarpa (aka: Shortfruit willow, Barren-ground willow, Small-fruit sand dune willow, Small-fruit willow)

Amorpha fruticosa (aka: Desert false indigo, False indigo-bush, Bastard indigobush, Indigo Bush)

Rubus parviflorus (aka: Thimbleberry, Western thimbleberry)

Rubus armeniacus (aka: Himalayan blackberry, Rubus discolor, Rubus procerus)

Rubus idaeus (aka: Raspberry, Black-haired red raspberry, Brilliant red raspberry, American red raspberry, Red raspberry, Smoothleaf red raspberry, Wild raspberry, Wild red raspberry, Grayleaf raspberry)

Brassica rapa (aka: Field mustard, Common mustard, Wild mustard, Wild turnip, Forage turnip, Wild rutabaga, Birdsrape mustard, Rape mustard)

Echium vulgare (aka: Viper's bugloss, Blueweed, Blue thistle)