Terms of flowering honey plants in the USA and Canada

According to observations of naturalists and beekeepers.

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Common name:

Bigtooth maple

Scientific name:

Acer grandidentatum.

Other common name(s):

Bigtooth maple, Canyon maple, Western sugar maple.

Life form:

Tree-shrub.

Flowering time:

15 - 20 days.

Flowering period

in Washington for this plant is: AprilMay.

NECTAR PRODUCTION:
200 kilograms per ha

SOURCE FOR HONEY BEES:
Major


General distribution:

Bigtooth maple has a spotty distribution, occurring in mountainous areas from southeastern Idaho, south-central Montana and western Wyoming south to Arizona, New Mexico, south-central Texas, and northern Mexico. Disjunct populations occur along Lake Powell in Colorado, in the Virgin Mountains of Clark County, Nevada, and in the Wichita Mountains of southwestern Oklahoma.

Map of distribution and habitat in USA

This plant is present in at least 10 states/provinces in this country.

See The Map

Botanical description:

Bigtooth maple is a deciduous, small tree or shrub of variable size. Its life form is dependent upon the moisture regime. In canyon bottoms and along streams it grows like a tree with single or multiple trunks reaching 50 feet (15 m) tall and 1 foot (30 cm) in diameter, while on dry canyon slopes it grows as a shrub with 2 or more stems reaching 26 feet (8 m) tall.

Bigtooth maple leaves are palmately lobed, 1 to 4 inches (2.5-10 cm) wide, and pubescent beneath. Plants usually flower every 2 or 3 years. Flowers are umbellate or corymbose and have no petals. The fruit is a dry, indehiscent, double-winged samara, each side with 1 small seed 0.16 to 0.20 inch long. The ovary and young fruit have long, straight hairs. Twigs are glabrous and the bark is thin and smooth or flaky. Bigtooth maple has both lateral surface roots and a deep taproot. An extensive root system develops during the first growing season. Reproduction by the layering of the lower branches extends the root system radially.

Seasonal development:

Bigtooth maple seeds germinate and cotyledons of new plants emerge in April and May. Throughout much of the range of bigtooth maple, new leaves and flowers appear at the same time in April and May.


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

Acer saccharinum (aka: Silver maple, Soft maple)

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)

Rubus spectabilis (aka: Salmonberry)

Acer glabrum (aka: Rocky Mountain maple, Douglas maple, Greene's maple, New Mexico maple, Torrey maple)

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 exigua (aka: Narrowleaf willow, Coyote willow)

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

Acer grandidentatum (aka: Bigtooth maple, Canyon maple, Western sugar maple)

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

Crataegus douglasii (aka: Black hawthorn, Douglas hawthorn, River hawthorn, Western thornapple)

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

Salix scouleriana (aka: Scouler's willow, Upland willow)

Acer circinatum (aka: Vine maple)

Prunus emarginata (aka: Bitter cherry)

Malus fusca (aka: Oregon crab, Oregon crab apple, Pacific crab apple, Western crab apple)

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

Acer macrophyllum (aka: Bigleaf maple, Big-leaf maple, Oregon maple)

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

Acer platanoides (aka: Norway maple)

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