BOTANY OF HONEY PLANTS.
W. J. BEAL

MOTHERWORT, AND RABIT FOOT, OR STONE CLOVER.
I AM now at a place where the bees are very active and have plenty of honey. They seem to
be abundant on the enclosed plant. Please let
me hear what it is; also the price of the seed and its
reputation as a honey producing plant.
W. F. BASON.
Haw River. N. C., June 20th. 1878.

P. S. I add what we call wild clover. Let me hear if it is a good honey yielder. W. F. B.

The plant first mentioned is motherwort
or Leonurus cardiaca. It is a relative of catnip, and both belong to the mint family. It
is valuable as a honey plant, since it blooms
in June and remains in bloom through July
and Aug., and furnishes nice, white honey.
It has been spoken of several times in back
Nos. of Gleanings. The seed is advertised
in our price list.

Of the second plant, which you call wild clover, Prof. Beal says, "It is Trifolium arrense, rabbit foot, or stone clover, an insignificant annual, which will not likely be of much value, if we judge from the way it grows in the north."
I will send you a few buds of one of our best honey plants. It will be in bloom in a few days, and
lasts several days: it generally blossoms from the
4th to the 10th of July, and is covered with bees from
morning until night. It grows from one to two feet
high, on our flat, timbered land mostly. Please give the name in GLEANINGS.
WM. FOSTER.
Latona, Ill., June 26, 1878.

The name of the above mentioned plant is Pyenanthemum Lintfolium. It is a sort of wild basil, of which we have a dozen or more. They belong to the mint family.
W. J. BEAL
Lansing, Michigan.

BUFFALO CLOVER.
Please find enclosed a specimen of clover, which I
plucked from a small patch found in one of my
neighbor's fields. It is a new variety to me, and the
bees are working on it freely. It grows about 15 in.
high (what I saw of it), has a straighter stalk than
the red clover, and has a very nice white bloom. A
German told me that it is called "turkey clover." I
would like to know what variety it is; also of what
value it is for bee pasturage. where the seed can be
had, the time to sow it, and how to prepare the
ground. RUFUS ROBINSON
La Clede, Fayette Co., Ill., June 3d, 1878.

This is a specimen of Trifolium stoloniferum, or
running buffalo clover. I receive either this or the
other species of buffalo clover, once or twice a year from Ill.
W. J. BEAL, Lansing, Michigan.

We have no acquaintance with this clover, and have no means of answering the questions concerning its honey value, &c. Can not some of our readers answer?

Enclosed, I send you the bloom and leaf of a plant
growing in great abundance in our orchard. In the
early part of the day, it is just humming with bees,
which seem to gather pollen. Do you know the
plant? If so, what is it? The two little blue petals
fold up in the afternoon when the sun shines. It always has a fluid at the base of the flower, but it does
not seem to be sweet. Do you suppose they gather
honey from it, or only pollen?
A SUBSCRIBER.
Farmington, Texas, June 11th, 1878.

The above named plant is the Commelyna Virginiana a sort of spiderwort, of which there are several varieties.
W. J. Beal. Lansing, Mich.
The bees probably gather honey from it.