Yellow horned poppy
A yellow-flowered poppy relative of coastal shingle and dunes; produces no nectar but gives honey bees steady pollen all summer.
- Nectar
- None
- Pollen
- Medium
- Flowering
- JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
- Height
- 0,3-0,9 m
- Life cycle
- Biennial
🐝 Add to my apiary
Log in to add it to your apiary.Value for beekeeping
Yellow horned poppy is a poppy relative with bluish-green, fleshy leaves that grows on shingle beaches and dunes along the Mediterranean and Black Sea coasts. Like most members of the poppy family it secretes no nectar and offers honey bees only pollen. In coastal areas it is a useful support plant in midsummer, when pollen sources become scarce.
Flowering
It flowers over a long period from May to August. Each flower is short-lived, but because the plant keeps producing new buds, the pollen supply lasts for weeks.
Honey and pollen
There are many stamens in the centre of the four large yellow petals. There is no monofloral honey; its contribution reaches the colony only as pollen.
Note for the beekeeper
All parts of the plant contain alkaloids and are poisonous if eaten; no harmful effect has been reported for bees collecting the pollen. It takes its name from its long, horn-shaped seed pod. It is part of the dune vegetation, and protecting the coast also benefits coastal beekeeping.