Viburnums are nectariferous; but the elderberries are pollen-flowers. Some orchids secrete nectar, others do not. In the nightshade family (Solanaceae) the nightshade is nectarless, but the ground cherry (Physalis) yields nectar.”

Although the handsome flowers of most species of rose are devoid of nectar they furnish such an abundance of pollen that they attract a great many visitors, as honeybees, bumblebees, leaf-cutting bees, mason-bees, and ground-bees, as well as flies and beetles. But in the sweet-brier rose {R. rubiginosa) nectar, according to Mueller, is secreted in a thin layer on the fleshy margin of the receptacle. The Cherokee rose also has been reported to yield nectar in the southern states. But these so-called exceptions appear doubtful.

RUSH (Juncaceae). — The rushes are very common in swamps. They are grass-like herbs with small, greenish, wind-pollinated, nectarless flowers.

ST. JOHN’S-WORT (Hypericum). — There are about 31 species of this genus in the United States, all of which have yellow nectarless flowers. The stamens are numerous and are united into clusters. The leaves are opposite and are punctate or black-dotted. The shrubby St. John’s-wort (H. formosum) thickly covers the ground and presents a solid mass of bloom. Bees gather the pollen mostly in the morning. It grows 2 to 3 feet tall, and spreads by means of running rootstocks. Many of the smaller species of this genus are seldom visited by insects. (Fig. 13.)

SEDGE (Cyperaceae). — A great family comprising some 3000 species with small greenish flowers, all of which are nectarless and wind-pollinated. The sedges are abundant along the margins of rivers and lakes, and in swamps, where they form the principal part of the vegetation. Tule (Scirpus lacustris, variety occidentalis), one of the bulrushes, with dark-green stems 4 to 10 feet tall, covers 500,000 acres of brackish and fresh-water marshes in California. In the delta region of the San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers alone there are 50,000 acres of tule. A so-called “tule honey” has been placed on the market, but tule bloom does not secrete nectar.

SKUNK CABBAGE (Symplocarpus foetidus). — Flowers small, crowded on a spadix, and inclosed in a hood-shaped leaf, striped with purple, called the spathe. Common in bogs from Nova Scotia south to North Carolina and west to Iowa. The spathe or hood barely rises above the ground, and the flowers bloom before the leaves appear. The skunk cabbage is one of the first flowers from which bees gather pollen, and as many as seven have been seen at one time in one of the hoods. As the hoods are close to the ground and protect the bees from the wind, they are able to work on cool or cloudy days, when the temperature in the shade is only 42 degrees F. This early pollen at once starts brood-rearing, and assures prosperity to the colony. For this reason Doolittle, one of America’s pioneer beekeepers, valued the skunk cabbage more highly than any other pollen-producing plant. If any nectar is secreted the quantity is so small that it is unimportant. The strong odor is attractive to flies, which have been found in the hoods in large numbers.

WALNUT (Juglans). — The stamens and pistils are in separate flowers; the staminate in long drooping catkins; the pistillate solitary, or two or three together. There are five species of walnut in the United States. The black walnut (Juglans nigra) and the butternut (J. cinerea), both common in eastern woodlands and blooming in April and May, furnish pollen for early brood-rearing. Honey-dew is found on the foliage of the black walnut.

WATER CHINQUAPIN (Nelumbo lutea). — Large aquatic plants with pale yellow flowers, five to ten inches broad. Found in rivers and ponds from New England to Texas. At Elkhart Lake, Texas, in the spring of 1919 bees were reported to have secured thirty pounds of surplus from this species. But according to both American and European flower ecologists the flowers are nectarless and bees gather pollen from them exclusively. Honeybees are very common visitors, as are also solitary bees, flies, and beetles.

WATER LILY (Castalia tuberosa and C. odorata). — The white water lilies