Mediterranean spurge
A robust spurge of maquis and rocky slopes; its open nectar glands give honey bees early nectar and some pollen from February to May.
- Nectar
- Medium
- Pollen
- Low
- Flowering
- JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
- Height
- 0,5-1,5 m
- Life cycle
- Perennial
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Mediterranean spurge is a large spurge with bluish leaves and a woody base that grows on rocky slopes and in maquis around the Mediterranean. The open glands in its yellowish-green flower clusters (cyathia) offer nectar freely; honey bees, wild bees and flies use it easily. By providing nectar and a little pollen in early spring, it supports colony build-up.
Flowering
Where winters are mild it starts in February and lasts until May; the flower clusters stay open for weeks. In the western Mediterranean subspecies the nectar glands are dark brown, while in subspecies wulfenii, which extends to the Balkans and western Anatolia, they are yellowish.
Honey and pollen
It is not harvested as a separate honey; it ends up in mixed early spring honeys.
Note for the beekeeper
The white sap of the plant burns skin and eyes; wear gloves and goggles when pruning or removing it. Honey from some spurge species can leave a burning sensation in the throat; whether this species has such an effect on honey is not well known. It is very drought-tolerant.