Plants 4 Bees :: Arecaceae :: Photo_Roystonea_inflorerscence

Roystonea inflorerscence

Scientific name	:	Roystonea elata
Synonyms	:	Roystonea regia, Palma elata, Roystonea floridana, Oreodoxa regia
Origin	:	At least Southern Florida and Cuba
Description	:	It is not clear to me at this time whether I should call the species R. elata or R. regia. Because I have chosen to use the USDA Plants Website as my standard for names, I have called the species R. elata. There are others, some who are well known and influential in the palm literature, who would disagree with this. When they are viewed as two different species, R. elata comes from Florida, whereas R. regia comes from Cuba, and many of the trees in Florida were originally brought from Cuba. The main differences between the two involve leaf and fruit anatomy. R. regia leaflets have midribs whereas R. elata essentially do not, and the fruit of R. regia is “oblongish”, whereas that of R. elata is more spherical. The species has a single tall, whitish gray stem. There are generally 15 – 18 leaves of the pinnate type that appear to be attached to the tree above a distinctive green area under the leaf canopy known as the crownshaft. There may or may not be swellings at the base of the plant as well as an elongated swelling further up the trunk. The flowers are unisexual and are borne in large 3 to 4 foot long clusters from under the leaf canopy. They are generally arranged with a male flower on either side of a female flower. The male flowers are about 0.19 inches long and are white. There may be fruit of at least two different ages on the tree at one time.
Distribution	:	In the United States the species is limited to southern Florida (zone 10a). When naturalized, they are generally found in wet areas, hammocks, woods, and open savannas, but are also common in disturbed areas[4]. They are commonly planted along city streets, and sometimes on the grounds of public institutions such as college campuses.
Blooming period	:	In Florida the species most often blooms from January to July, but occasionally bloom at other times as well.
Importance	:	In parts of the Caribbean where the plant is very plentiful it is apparently considered an important honey plant. Whether it is sufficiently common in Florida to produce much honey is questionable. Lovell[8] proposes, however, that its importance may come from the fact that it blooms when not much else is available. Morton[8] states that the nectar is plentiful and avidly collected by bees. When I was in Florida on a photographic mission in 2005, and several trees of the species came into bloom, the blooms were eagerly visited by a cloud of insects, but because of the height of the bloom, I was unable to tell if they were honey bees.
Honey potential	:	Lovell[8] states that surpluses are not common, but occasionally a strong colony might store a pound a day. Crane et al.[2] list it as both a major and medium honey source depending on the research upon which they were reporting.
Honey	:	Pellett[10] characterized the honey as being golden yellow with a characteristic flavor and aroma that makes it delicious to the taste. Crane et al[2] describe the honey as golden yellow with a Pfund rating of light amber (no actual numerical reading was provided). They describe the flavor as characteristic and strong. Morton[9] describes the honey as light amber and thin with a delicious aroma and flavor, though strong.
Pollen	:	Crane et al.[2] describe the pollen as copious, creamy white, and good for rearing brood.
Additional information	:	During 2005 when I was in Florida, I happened early one morning upon a phenomenon apparently peculiar to the genus Roystonea. A tree had just begun to bloom and had dropped copious amounts of fine white material that formed a layer on the plants and soil beneath it. It fell like fine snow, but when I came back an hour later to see if more had accumulated, it had almost mysteriously vanished, apparently having been blown away by the slight breeze that had arisen by then. The experience was eerily reminiscent of the accounts of manna in the Bible that I had learned as a boy. Originally I was told the material was pollen, but Dr. Scott Zona, a well known palm biologist at the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, assures me that this is not the case, though no one seems to be sure of its function. Another of the interesting aspects of Roystonea biology is that the trees drop their foliage during hurricanes, thus averting being blown over.
Reference	:	1. Arnold, L. E. . 1954. Some honey plants of Florida. University of Florida Agricultural Experiment Stations Bulletin 548. University of Florida, Gainesville, FL. 2. Crane, E., P. Walker and R. Day. 1984. Directory of Important World Honey Sources. International Bee Research Association. London. 3. Dennis, C. 1983. Nectar and Pollen Producing Plants of Alabama--A Guide for Beekeepers. ANR Circular 351. Alabama Cooperative Extension Service, Auburn University. Auburn, AL. 4. Henderson, A, G. Galeano and R. Bernal. 1995. Field guide to the Palms of the Americas. Prinston University Press. Princeton, NJ. 5. Jones, D. L. 1995. Palms Throughout the World. Smithsonian Institution Press. Washington, D.C. 6. Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium Staff. 1976. Hortus Third. A Concise Dictionary of Plants Cultivated in the United States and Canada. Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc. New York. 7. Lovell, H. B. 1965. Lets Talk About Honey Plants. Gleanings in Bee Culture. 93:483-484. 8. Lovell, J. 1926. Honey Plants of North America. A. I. Root Co. Medina, OH. 9. Morton, J. A. 1964. Honeybee plants of South Florida. Proceedings, Florida State Horicultural Society 77:415-436. 10. Pellett, F. C. 1978. American Honey Plants. Dadant and Sons, Hamilton, IL. 11. Root, A. I. and E. R. Root. 1920. The ABC and XYZ of Bee Culture. The A. I. Root Co. Medina, Ohio. 12. Sanford, M. T. 1988. Florida Bee Botany Florida Cooperative Extension Service/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Circular 686. University of Florida, Gainesville, FL. 13. Smith, L. K. 1909. Cabbage palmetto yields honey that sours quickly; saw palmetto honey excellent. Gleanings in Bee Culture 37:39. 14. USDA, NRCS. The PLANTS Database, Version 3.5 (http://plants.usda.gov). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA 15. White, J. W., M. L. Riethof, M. H. Subers and I. Kushnir. 1962. Composition of American Honeys. U. S. D. A. Technical Bulletin No. 1261. U. S. Government Printing Office. Washington, D. C.