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Francoaceae
Honey Flower
Melianthus major
Sweet rewards.
- Family
- Francoaceae
- Genus
- Melianthus
- Native to
- South Africa
- Bloom season
- Spring, Summer
- Type
- evergreen shrub
- Height
- 6-10 ft
- Sunlight
- full sun to part shade
- Soil
- well-drained, fertile
- Water
- moderate
- Hardiness
- 8-11
- Lifespan
- perennial
Did you know
- The flowers produce copious nectar that literally drips from the blooms, earning it the name 'honey flower' and the genus name from Greek 'meli' (honey).
- The large, blue-gray, deeply serrated leaves have a strong peanut butter scent when crushed, which some find pleasant and others find disagreeable.
- Sunbirds in South Africa are the primary pollinators, hovering at the dark reddish flower spikes to drink the abundant nectar.
- Despite its beauty, all parts of the plant are poisonous to livestock and humans, containing cardiac glycosides.
- It was one of the first South African plants to be cultivated in European gardens, arriving in the Netherlands by the early 1600s.
Color meanings
0
hidden sweetness
1
abundance