will cause the buds to droop and wither under a torrid sun, and defeat the hopes of the apiarist. A single shower has been known to cause hundreds of acres to burst into bloom and set the apiary a-roar. The main bloom lasts for about six weeks. Logwood is the source of dyes extracted from the heart of the tree.

LOQUAT (Eriobotrya japonica). — The loquat is a pear-shaped fruit, orange-red or lemon yellow in color, with a soft, juicy, sweet flesh. Many commercial orchards of this semi-tropical fruit are found in Orange and Ventura Counties in southern California. The loquat blooms from October to February, and the white fragrant flowers are always covered with bees, when the weather permits. The loquat also finds a congenial home in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and as far north as North Carolina. It was brought from Japan, in 1889, to California, under the name of “Japan plum;” but it should not be confounded with the true Japan plum. It is now generally called loquat.

LUCERNE. — See Alfalfa.

LUPINE (Lupinus). — The lupines are pollen-flowers and honeybees often gather pollen from them, but they are wholly nectarless, although often reported to yield a “little nectar.” See Lupine under Pollen-Flowers.

MADRONA ( Arbutus Menziessii). — A widely branching tree, 20 to 125 feet tall, with dark red or crimson bark and evergreen leaves shining above and whitish beneath. Its range extends from British Columbia to southern California. It grows on mountain slopes and in gravelly valleys of the Coast Ranges and reaches its highest development in Mendocino and Humboldt counties. The small, white, globular flowers in terminal clusters open in early spring and attract a great company of honeybees, bumblebees, and other insects. There are ten nearly transparent nectaries in a circle at the base of the corolla. The honey is a light amber, with a very heavy body and a pleasant slightly aromatic flavor. At Melrose, Oregon, madrona is a common and reliable honey plant, yielding an excellent light-amber honey. The red or orange-colored berries are ripe about Christinas time, when great flocks of wild pigeons feast upon them. Like manzanita, madrona belongs to the heath family. It is the handsomest ornamental tree in this family, and never fails to excite admiration.

MAGNOLIA (Magnolia grandiflora). — English names are laurel-bay and bull-bay. The noblest tree of the Magnolia family and the largest evergreen tree in our flora. The leaves are dark green, smooth and shining above, and rusty-red, finely tomentose beneath. The creamy-white flowers are broadly bell-shaped, lemon-scented, gradually turning brown as they fade. They produce large quantities of pollen and also secrete nectar. A surplus of honey has been reported to have been obtained from magnolia during damp weather, but there is little evidence that it is of much value as a honey plant. In hammocks and along rivers from North Carolina to Florida and westward to Texas. (Magnolia foetida.)

MAGUEY. — See Agave.

MALLOW (Malva). — Often called cheese-flower, cheeses, and cheese-cake. The mallows are common in waste places and along roadsides. Musk mallow (M. moschata) is listed as an important honey plant in New Jersey. The large red flowers of the high mallow (M. sylvestris) are very attractive to a great many bees, which eagerly gather the nectar but pay little attention to the pollen. In the absence of insects it is self-sterile. In California cheese-weed (M. parviflora) is very common in the interior valleys near dwellings, and is considered a desirable honey plant.

MAMMOTH CLOVER. — See Clover.

MANDARIN. — See Orange.

MANCHINEEL (Hippomane Mancinella). — An evergreen tree, with smooth