5.2 Perennials

PERENNIALS 63
Solidago occidentalis (Nutt.) T. & G. 65
western goldenrod, verge d'or
per. 50-100 cm NP
Value for honey: HP4/5 (for Solidago L.) 16 ; N sugar concentration 33% 94; an
important secondary source of fall N (and P) in Alta. and B.C."; see Solidago.
Honey: see Solidago.
Notes: yellow flowers crowded into small daisy-like heads; clusters of flowers are flat
topped; grows in wet meadows, river-banks, lakes and sloughs, found naturally in B.C.
and Alta. 65 ; see Solidago.
Stachys byzantina C. Koch
(syn. Stachys lanata Jacq., not Crantz; S. olympica of auth. not Poir.)
lamb's ears, woolly betony, woolly groundwort, epaire, dpairie laineuse
per. -29° to -23° C Jul-Oct 30-45 cm
Value for honey: HP5 16.
Notes: usually grown for its attractive foliage; pink to purplish flowers on stalks are
long lasting; a much cultivated ornamental.
Taraxacum Wiggers and Taraxacum officinale Wiggers
dandelion, lion's tooth, blowballs, dumble d'or, pissenlit
per. -37° to -29° C May-Sep NP
Value for honey: HP4 16 ; H yield 9-95 kg/colony/season 17 ; N sugar concentration 18-
74% 17 ; N secretion 1.0-1.9 mg/flower/day; but none if temperatures are greater than
24° C 17 ; flowers close on cloudy days 7 ; no other N source of greater value for
honeybees during the short main bloom period, but most H consumed during brood
rearing because majority of colonies are not strong enough to take advantage of early
flow 11,72 ; flowers intermittently from spring to autumn; may be more attractive to
honeybees than apple (Males) when it blooms in orchards 35 ; provides a major H flow
in late May and June in the Eastern Townships, Montreal and Ottawa Valleys of
Que. 12 ; useful for colony build up in B.C.a and Alta.
Value for pollen: P yield is 1.2 mg/flower/day with approximately 6.2 mg/load 17 ;
protein content is high 83 ; under-represented" in H 17 ; load is dull yellow to orange 17 ;
considered a very valuable source of P; may be more attractive to honeybees than apple
P when it occurs in orchards 35 .
Honey: intense yellow to pale yellow in colour 17 ; classed as light amber to golden
amber 17 ; granulates rapidly to a coarse solid 16; flavour is sharp 91 , but can be mild";
aroma pronounced 16 .
Notes: Taraxacum includes many cosmopolitan weeds native to Europe, Asia and N.
America (T. officinale is one sp. introduced to N. America); bright yellow flower-heads
up to 3 cm across; pernicious lawn weed, but is also grown as edible greens; flowers
intermittently all summer after main bloom in late spring.
The following spp. and var. are common in certain parts of Canada and may
contribute significantly to the H flow in their own areas, but no specific information has
been recorded: T. officinale var. palustre (Sm.) Blytt. 23 is found in damper soils, Nfld.
and Que. to s. N.E.'; T. phymatocarpum Vah1. 23 , Greenl. and Arct. America, limestone
crevices, Pistolet Bay, Nfld. (Jul) 23 ; T. ceratophorum (Ledeb.) DC. 23 , Lab. to B.C., S.
a Mitchell, S. (1987). Personal communication.
b This means that the percentage of pollen grains of this species to the total pollen grains in honey will
be characteristically low even if most of the honey surplus originates from this species.