Dwarf everlast
A small plant of sandy, dry steppes with yellow heads in summer; of limited value to honey bees and visited more by wild bees and butterflies.
- Nectar
- Low
- Pollen
- Low
- Flowering
- JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
- Height
- 0.1-0.4 m
- Life cycle
- Perennial
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Dwarf everlast is a low, grey-hairy plant of sandy, nutrient-poor soils, dry grassland and steppe. Its small lemon-yellow heads are surrounded by dry, papery bracts that keep their colour even after drying. The tubular florets have little nectar; honey bees call only occasionally, and its main visitors are wild bees, flies and butterflies.
Flowering
It flowers for a long time from June to September. Staying in flower during dry summers gives bees a little support where other sources have run out.
Honey and pollen
Its contribution to honey and to the pollen trap is negligible. The plant is collected for the dried-flower and herbal-tea trade.
Note for the beekeeper
In some European countries it is protected because its habitat has shrunk. Where it is over-collected from the wild, the plant declines quickly. Sowing it for beekeeping is not recommended; in steppe apiaries it should be regarded as part of the existing vegetation.