Terms of flowering honey plants in the USA and Canada

According to observations of naturalists and beekeepers.

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Common name:

Spanspek

Scientific name:

Cucumis melo.

Life form:

Forb-herb, Vine.

Flowering time:

no data.

Flowering period

in Mississippi 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 Mississippi
See the entire list

Ulmus americana (aka: American elm, White elm, Water elm, Soft elm, Florida elm)

Acer rubrum (aka: Red maple, Scarlet maple)

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

Acer saccharinum (aka: Silver maple, Soft maple)

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)

Aronia arbutifolia (aka: Red chokeberry)

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

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

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

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

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

Pyrus communis (aka: European pear, Common pear)

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)

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

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