Terms of flowering honey plants in the USA and Canada

According to observations of naturalists and beekeepers.

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Common name:

Rockmelon

Scientific name:

Cucumis melo.

Life form:

Forb-herb, Vine.

Flowering time:

no data.

Flowering period

in Illinois for this plant is: JuneOctober.

NECTAR PRODUCTION: 
No data
 
SOURCE FOR HONEY BEES:
Minor

General distribution:

Melon, (Cucumis melo), trailing vine in the gourd family (Cucurbitaceae), grown for its often musky-scented edible fruit. The melon plant is native to central Asia, and its many cultivated varieties are widely grown in warm regions around the world. Most commercially important melons are sweet and eaten fresh, though some varieties can be made into preserves or pickled.

Map of distribution and habitat in USA

This plant is present in at least 36 states/provinces in this country.

See The Map

Botanical description:

Melons are frost-tender annuals with soft hairy trailing stems and clasping tendrils. They bear large round to lobed leaves and yellow unisexual flowers about 2.5 cm (1 inch) across. Botanically, the fruits are a type of berry known as a pepo, and they vary greatly in size, shape, surface texture, and flesh color and flavor, depending on the variety. They generally weigh 1–4 kg (2–9 pounds). Cantaloupes and netted melons are ripe when they give off a sweet fruity odor, at which time they “slip,” or break, readily at the union of fruit and stalk. Honeydews and casabas are ripe when they turn yellow, at which time they are cut from the vine. They are called the winter melons because they ripen late and mature slowly in storage for many weeks, becoming softer but not noticeably sweeter.

Seasonal development:

Good pollination is important for the number of fruits that are being produced and for the content of sugar that is contained within the melon. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) suggests that commercial plantings should have one beehive for every acre to assist with melon pollination.


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List of honey plants that may be blooming now in Illinois
See the entire list

Cercis canadensis (aka: Eastern redbud, Redbud, Cersis Reniformis)

Malus angustifolia (aka: American crab apple, Buncombe crab apple, Crabtree, Narrowleaf crab, Narrowleaf crab apple, Southern crab, Southern crab apple)

Acer saccharinum (aka: Silver maple, Soft maple)

Salix nigra (aka: Black willow, Swamp willow, Southwestern black willow, Gulf black willow, Scythe-leaved willow)

Pyrus communis (aka: European pear, Common pear)

Celtis laevigata (aka: Hackberry, Sugarberry, Lowland hackberry, Sugar hackberry, Arizona sugarberry, Netleaf hackberry, Small's hackberry, Southern hackberry, Texas sugarberry)

Acer negundo (aka: Boxelder, Western boxelder, Arizona boxelder, California boxelder, Texas boxelder, Interior boxelder, Violet boxelder)

Salix lucida (aka: Shining willow, Greenleaf willow, Tail-leaf willow, Whiplash willow, Pacific willow, Lance-leaf willow, Longleaf willow, Red willow, Western shining willow)

Salix discolor (aka: Pussy willow, American pussy willow, Glaucous willow, Large pussy willow)

Salix amygdaloides (aka: Peachleaf willow, Peach leaf willow)

Amelanchier arborea (aka: Common serviceberry, Downy serviceberry, Juneberry, Shadbush, Shadblow, Sugarplum)

Acer saccharum (aka: Sugar maple, Rock maple, Hard maple)

Populus tremuloides (aka: Quaking aspen, Trembling aspen, Aspen, American aspen, Mountain aspen, Golden aspen, Trembling poplar, White poplar, Popple, Alamo Blanco)

Malus coronaria (aka: Sweet crab apple, Garland crab, Alabama crab, Allegheny crab, American crab, Baltimore crab apple, Buncombe crab, Dawson crab, Dunbar crab, Fragrant crab, Garland tree, Lanceleaf crab apple, Missouri crab, Sweet-scented crab, Sweet wild crab, Wild crab, Wild sweet crab, Wild Crab Apple)

Prunus cerasus (aka: Sour cherry, Tart cherry, Dwarf cherry, Montmorency cherry)

Prunus pumila (aka: Sandcherry, Western sandcherry, Eastern sandcherry, Great Lakes sandcherry)

Liriodendron tulipifera (aka: Tuliptree, Blue-poplar, Tulip-poplar, Yellow-poplar, Yellow wood)

Salix bebbiana (aka: Bebb willow, Beak willow, Beaked willow, Long-beaked willow, Diamond willow, Chaton, Petit Minou, Smooth Bebb willow)

Acer rubrum (aka: Red maple, Scarlet maple)

Ilex opaca (aka: American holly, Dune holly, Hummock holly, Scrub holly)

Malus domestica (aka: Pyrus pumila, Malus pumila, Apple)

Acer platanoides (aka: Norway maple)

Celtis occidentalis (aka: Common hackberry, Bastard elm, Nettle-tree, Northern hackberry)

Prunus americana (aka: American plum, Goose plum, River plum, Wild plum)

Catalpa speciosa (aka: Northern catalpa, Hardy catalpa, Western catalpa, Cigar tree, Catawba-tree, Bois chavanon)

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

Robinia pseudoacacia (aka: Black locust, False acacia, Yellow locust, White locust, Green locust, Post locust, Falsa acacia, Robinia)

Viburnum prunifolium (aka: Blackhaw, Black haw, Blackhaw viburnum, Sweet haw, Stag bush, Smooth Blackhaw Viburnum, Stagbush, Viburnum bushii)

Vaccinium angustifolium (aka: Lowbush blueberry, Early low-bush blueberry, Low sweet blueberry)

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

Rubus phoenicolasius (aka: Wine raspberry, Japanese wineberry, Wineberry)

Malus ioensis (aka: Bechel crab, Crab apple, Iowa crab, Iowa crab apple, Prairie crab, Prairie crab apple)

Ajuga reptans (aka: Bugle, Blue bugle, Bugleherb, Bugleweed, Carpetweed, Carpet bugleweed, Common bugle, St. Lawrence plant)

Astragalus (aka: Milkvetch, Locoweed, Goat's-thorn)

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)

Rubus parviflorus (aka: Thimbleberry, Western thimbleberry)

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

Allium schoenoprasum (aka: Chives)

Brassica napus (aka: Rapeseed)

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

Gleditsia triacanthos (aka: Honey locust, Honey shucks locust, Common honeylocust, Sweet bean locust)

Aronia melanocarpa (aka: Black chokeberry, Rowan, Mountain Ash, Sorbus)

Prunus serotina (aka: Black cherry, Wild black cherry, Rum cherry, Mountain black cherry, Wild cherry)

Prunus pensylvanica (aka: Pin cherry, Fire cherry, Bird cherry)

Vaccinium corymbosum (aka: Highbush blueberry, High-bush blueberry, Northern highbush blueberry, Tall blueberry, Rabbiteye blueberry, Blue huckleberry, Tall huckleberry, Swamp huckleberry, High blueberry, Swamp blueberry)

Asclepias tuberosa (aka: Butterflyweed, Butterfly Milkweed, Orange Milkweed, Pleurisy Root, Chigger Flower, Canada root, Fluxroot, Indian paintbrush, Indian posy, Orange root, Orange Swallow-wort, Tuber root, Yellow milkweed, White-root, Windroot, Butterfly love)

Tilia americana (aka: American basswood, Basswood, Linden)