Nectar Female trees also have densely aggregated flowers in compound umbels (Figure 3). Each female flower produces only nectar and no pollen, as there are no stamens. The female flower structure is peculiar because there are no petals or sepals either. The flower is just a stalk with a flattened round ovary bearing a stubby style and branched stigma—that’s all. The enlarged foot of the style is called a stylopodium and it is here that copious nectar is secreted. When the nectar is flowing, the flower looks like a candy apple dripping with sugar syrup (Figure 4, opposite page). This exposed nectar gives easy access for all insects and also for nectar-loving birds. The compact aggregation of so many flowers drenched with nectar allows rapid processing of each flower (a matter of seconds) by insects or birds. Remarkably, the energetic value of the nectar (i.e., the total amount of sugar available) from so many tiny flowers is high enough to meet the energy requirements of birds in the size range of large native birds like tui and bellbird (Castro & Robertson, 1997). Planting advice Five finger is a small tree (8 m when mature) that has distinctive palmate leaves, with usually five leaflets radiating from a central stalk. It prefers fertile and humus-rich soil on moist sites, but will tolerate drier sites, and requires fertiliser if the topsoil is poor (Marden et al., 2005). As a secondary succession species, it tolerates moderate frosts and will also tolerate coastal conditions, but should be sheltered from strong winds as it is subject to breakage and is shallow-rooted. Five finger is suited for low shelter or group plantings as part of a species mix or pure stands. It should be planted in good numbers clustered together to amplify availability of flowers for bee feed. Spacing between plants should be 4–5 m to allow the trees to grow to a good size and maximise flowering. Because it is a preferred forage for possums, goats and deer, protecting the seedlings when planted is important (e.g., use of tree guards), as is maintaining control of these pests long term. Honeyeaters and the New Zealand forest flora: The utilisation and profitability of small flowers. New Zealand Journal of Ecology, 21 (2), 169–179. Marden, M., Rowan, D., & Phillips, C. (2005). Stabilising characteristics of New Zealand indigenous riparian colonising plants. Plant and Soil, 278 (1–2), 95–105. References Castro, I., & Robertson, A. W. (1997).
Figure 2. Honeybee collecting pollen from male flower on the male tree of five finger (Pseudopanax arboreus). Male flowers have exposed pollen on five stamens with wide open greenish yellow petals. Photo: Richard Toft © Trees for Bees NZ.
Figure 3. Female flowers of five finger (Pseudopanax arboreus) aggregated into concentrated flowering stalks on the female tree. Photo: Richard Toft © Trees for Bees NZ.
The Trees for Bees ‘star performers’ series of fact sheets is designed to show the ‘best of the best’ in bee plants. Each selected plant has been investigated in the field by the team and used extensively in Trees for Bees Demonstration Farms. They rank as star performers because they maximise nutrition by having any combination of one or more of these six great features: 1. the plant flowers at a time of pollen or nectar dearth (e.g., spring, autumn and even winter)
2. the plant flowers profusely with high density and large quantity of flowers per plant 3. each flower delivers large quantities of pollen or nectar; such plants may have few flowers 4. the flowers deliver high quality pollen nutrition (e.g., crude protein content) 5. the flowers give bees easy access to pollen and nectar for bee foraging efficiency 6. the flowers are highly attractive and preferred by bees.
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