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Terms of flowering honey plants in the USA and Canada

According to observations of naturalists and beekeepers.

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Scientific name:

 

Populus tremuloides

Common name(s):

  Quaking aspen, Trembling aspen, Aspen, American aspen, Mountain aspen, Golden aspen, Trembling poplar, White poplar, Popple, Alamo Blanco.

Life form:

 Tree.

Flowering time:

 no data.

Flowering period

 in Newfoundland & Labrador for this plant is: April ↔ May.

NECTAR PRODUCTION: 
Minor
 
SOURCE FOR HONEY BEES:
Minor

General distribution:

Quaking aspen is native to and the most widely distributed tree in North America.  It occurs from Newfoundland west to Alaska and south to Virginia, Missouri, Nebraska, and northern Mexico. A few scattered populations occur farther south in Mexico to Guanajuato. Quaking aspen is distributed fairly continuously in the East. Distribution is patchy in the West, with trees confined to suitable sites. Density is greatest in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Colorado, and Alaska; each of those states contains at least 2 million acres of commercial quaking aspen forest. Maine, Utah, and central Canada also have large acreages of quaking aspen.

Map of distribution and habitat in Canada

This plant is present in at least 53 states/provinces in this country.

See The Map

Botanical description:

Quaking aspen is a native deciduous tree. It is small- to medium-sized, typically less than 48 feet (15 m) in height and 16 inches (40 cm) dbh. It has spreading branches and a pyramidal or rounded crown. The bark is thin. Leaves are orb- to ovately shaped, with flattened petioles. The fruit is a tufted capsule bearing six to eight seeds. A single female catkin usually bears 70 to 100 capsules. The root system is relatively shallow, with wide-spreading lateral roots and vertical sinker roots descending from the laterals. Laterals may extend over 100 feet (30 m) into open areas.

Quaking aspen forms clones connected by a common parent root system. It is typically dioecious, with a given clone being either male or female. Some clones produce both stamens and pistils, however.

Seasonal development:

Quaking aspen catkins elongate before the leaves expand.
In New England, catkins appear in mid-March to April; in the central Rockies, flowering occurs in May to June. Sustained air temperatures above 54 degrees Fahrenheit (12 deg C) for about 6 days apparently trigger flowering. At high elevation, trees may flower before snow is off the ground.
Female trees generally flower and leaf out before male trees.
Local clonal variation produces early- and late-flowering clones of either sex, however.
Catkins mature in 4 to 6 weeks (usually in May or June).
Branches usually leaf out from early May to June.
Seed dispersal in the Great Lakes States occurs from early May to mid-June, beginning earliest on protected sites and in southern portions of the region.


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List of honey plants that may be blooming now in Newfoundland & Labrador
See the entire list

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

Acer spicatum (aka: Mountain maple, Low maple, Moose maple, Water maple, Plaine batarde, Fouereux)

Salix planifolia (aka: Diamondleaf willow, Planeleaf willow)

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

Brassica napus (aka: Rapeseed)

Allium schoenoprasum (aka: Chives)

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

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

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

Salix myrtillifolia (aka: Blueberry willow, Low blueberry willow, Tall blueberry willow)

Salix glauca (aka: Grayleaf willow, Gray willow, Gray-leaved willow)

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)

Salsola kali (aka: Russian thistle, Tumbleweed, Prickly saltwort)

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

Chamaenerion angustifolium (aka: Fireweed, Great willowherb, Rosebay willowherb, Saint Anthony's Laurel, French-willow)

Borago officinalis (aka: Borage, Starflower, Common borage, Cool-tankard, Tailwort)

Diervilla lonicera (aka: Northern bush honeysuckle, Bush-honeysuckle, Dwarf bush-honeysuckle, Herbe bleue)

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