Summer asphodel
Blooms in spring with tall white racemes on Mediterranean and Aegean pastures; rich in nectar and pollen, and in Sardinia it yields a pale monofloral honey.
- Nectar
- Good
- Pollen
- Good
- Flowering
- JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
- Crystallisation
- Slow
- Height
- 0.5-1.5 m
- Life cycle
- Perennial
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Summer asphodel is a tuberous plant common on dry pastures, among olive groves and on stony slopes in the Aegean, the Mediterranean and southern Marmara. The white, brown-striped flowers on its branching stem are heavily visited by bees for both nectar and pollen. Because livestock do not eat its bitter leaves, it multiplies on overgrazed land.
Flowering
It flowers for about 4-6 weeks, in March-April on the coast and until May inland. This period coincides with the colonies' spring build-up and also feeds an early swarming tendency.
Honey and pollen
In Italy, especially in Sardinia, a monofloral honey bearing its name is produced; it is very light in colour, with a mild, delicate aroma, and when it crystallises it takes on a fine-grained white texture. In Turkey its nectar ends up in mixed spring honey.
Note for the beekeeper
Dense stands of summer asphodel provide a strong build-up site in spring. Locally the young shoots are eaten as a vegetable, and the roots were formerly used to make glue (çiriş).