Texas Honey Plants Part 2

"A species of Southern States and extending in Texas to the Valley of the San Antonio." (Coulter). College; along lowlands, creeks and streams. Honey yield good but short; in warm spring early and valuable for early brood. March, May.*

YOUPON. Ilex Caroliniana Trelease.

Holly family. Ilicineae.

"A species of the Gulf States and extending into Texas. Limit uncertain." (Coulter). Hunter: low woodland thickets; not important.

March, April.*

BRASIL WOOD. LOGWOOD. Condalia obovata Hook.

Buckthorn family. Rhamneae.

"From the Guadalupe to the Rio Grande and west of New Mexico."

(Coulter). Hunter: in woodlands, dry soils; honey yield not very important but comes well in dearth of summer. July, August.* "Abundant along Carter's Creek. Honey yield good during May." (E. Scholl).

RATTAN VINE. Berchemia scandens Trelease.

Buckthorn family. Rhamneae.

"A species of the Southern States extending into Texas where its western limit is uncertain." (Coulter). Along ravines and low woodlands; honey yield good, giving surplus in favorable years but dark amber colored, used in manufacturing-houses. April.*

COLUMBRINA TEXENSIS. Gray.

Buckthorn family. Rhamneae.

"From the Colorado to the Rio Grande westward to New Mexico."

(Coulter). Floresville, slopes, adobe hills. Honey yield good but not enough for surplus. Also some pollen. April.*

CULTIVATED WINE GRAPES. Vitis (?) (Varieties).

Vine family. Ampelidaceae.

Cultivated in orchards; good for pollen. April, May.*

MOUNTAIN GRAPE. Vitis monticola Buckley.

Vine family. Ampelidaceae.

"Peculiar to the hilly limestone regions of Western Texas, not extending to the low country nor to the granite mountains." (Coulter.) Hunter: in woods and forests; honey yield fairly good and pollen valuable for brood rearing. March.*

COW ITCH. Cissus incisa Desmoul.

Vine family. Ampelidaceae.

"In shady places from the Colorado to the Rio Grande and westward. An ornamental vine known as "Yerba del buey."

(Coulter). Hunter: along fences and edge of thickets; honey yield keeps bees out of mischief during dearth. Surplus where plentiful. April, to August.*

SOAPBERRY. WILD CHINA. Sapindus marginatus Willd.

Soapberry family. Sapindaceae.

"Common along creeks throughout Texas from Louisiana to New Mexico and Mexico. Smaller west of the Colorado river." (Coulter). Along rivers and creeks and sometimes along uplands; honey yield good, heavy flow in favorable seasons gives surplus. June.* Evergreen shrub, blooms in April; yields quant.i.ties of honey and pollen where enough bushes." (Milam, Uvalde).

COMMON BALLOON VINE. Cardiospermum Halicacab.u.m L.

Soapberry family. Sapindaceae.

"Guadalupe to Rio Grande." (Coulter). "In thickets and waste places New Jersey, Missouri, Florida, Texas and tropical America; summer and fall." (Small). Hunter: in creek bottoms; honey yield fair but plants not abundant. April, July.*

MEXICAN BUCKEYE. Ungnadia speciosa Endl.

Soapberry family. Sapindaceae.

"Common along rocky valleys and in the mountains from the Valley of the Trinity through Western Texas to New Mexico." (Coulter). Hunter: "mountainous woodlands. Honey yield good in dearth but not plentiful.

July."

DWARF SUMACH. Rhus copallina L.

Sumach family. Anacardiaceae.

"A sumach of the Atlantic States extending through Eastern and Southern Texas to the Rio Grande." (Coulter). Hunter: small shrubby tree rocky hillsides and woodland prairies. Honey yield good giving surplus in favorable seasons depending upon rains. Reported as a honey plant in most of the beekeepers reports received. August.*

GREEN SUMACH. Rhus virens Lindh.

Sumach family. Anacardiaceae.

"From the Colorado to the Rio Grande and westward." (Coulter). In stony, hilly woodlands. Bees are some seasons busy on it. October.*

BLUE LUPINE. BLUEBONNET. Lupinus subcarnosus Hook.

Pulse family. Leguminosae.

"Common lupine of Southern and Western Texas, 'covering fertile slopes with a carpet of purple blue.' (Harvard), as early as March."

(Coulter). Hunter: places in open woodlands. Honey yield good; also pollen of very bright and orange colors. March, April.*

ALFALFA OR LUCERNE. Medicago sativa L.

Pulse family. Leguminosae.

"An extensively cultivated forage plant which has long been an introduced plant in Southern and Western Texas." (Coulter). Cultivated for hay crops; honey yield fair; early summer and fall; better in irrigated regions. May, August.* "Large number of bees were seen on it at New Braunfels, Texas. June 19th, 1907. A good thing in North Texas." (E. Scholl).

MEd.i.c.k. BURR CLOVER. Medicago denticulata Willd.

Pulse family. Leguminosae.

"Naturalized in Western Texas." (Coulter). College: abundant on campus lawns. Honey yield sparingly in summer, not important. February to May.*

SWEET CLOVER. Melilotus alba Desv.