Terms of flowering honey plants in the USA and Canada

According to observations of naturalists and beekeepers.

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Scientific name:

Acer rubrum

Common name(s):

Red maple, Scarlet maple.

Life form:

Tree.

Flowering time:

7 - 13 days.

Flowering period

in South Carolina for this plant is: JanuaryMarch.

NECTAR PRODUCTION:
200 kilograms per ha

SOURCE FOR HONEY BEES:
Major


General distribution:

Red maple is one of the most widely distributed trees in eastern North America. Its range extends from Newfoundland and Nova Scotia west to southern Ontario, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois; south through Missouri, eastern Oklahoma, and southern Texas; and east to southern Florida. It is conspicuously absent from the bottomland forests of the Corn Belt in the Prairie Peninsula of the Midwest, the coastal prairies of southern Louisiana and southeastern Texas, and the swamp prairie of the Florida everglades. It is cultivated in Hawaii.

Map of distribution and habitat in USA

This plant is present in at least 41 states/provinces in this country.

See The Map

Botanical description:

Red maple is a deciduous tree that grows 30 to 90 feet (9-28 m) tall and up to 4 feet (1.6 m) in diameter. The bark is smooth and gray but darkens and becomes furrowed in narrow ridges with age. Twigs are stout and shiny red to grayish brown.

The small, fragrant flowers are borne in slender-stalked, drooping, axillary clusters. The fruit is a paired, winged samara, approximately 0.75 inches (1.9 cm) long. Samaras are red, pink, or yellow.

Seasonal development:

Red maple is one of the first trees to flower in early spring. Specific flowering dates are largely dependent on weather conditions, and latitude and elevation. Flowers generally appear several weeks before vegetative buds. Bud break may be affected by soil factors and is typically delayed for 7 to 10 days on copper-, lead-, and zinc-mineralized sites. Fruit matures in spring before leaf development is complete.


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

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

Brassica napus (aka: Rapeseed)

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

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)

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

Asclepias syriaca (aka: Сommon milkweed, Butterfly flower, Silkweed, Silky swallow-wort, Virginia silkweed)

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)

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

Cucumis sativus (aka: Cucumber, Cetriolo, Gherkin)

Cucumis melo (aka: Cantaloupe, Rockmelon, Sweet melon, Spanspek, Honeydew melon, Honeymelon, Crenshaw, Casaba)

Citrullus lanatus (aka: Watermelon)

Cephalanthus occidentalis (aka: Common buttonbush, Buttonball, Buttonbush, Button willow, Riverbush, Honey-bells)

Aralia spinosa (aka: Devil's walkingstick, Prickly ash, Hercules club, Angelica tree, Prickly elder, Pick tree, Toothache tree, Shotbush)