The Mediterranean forest and its flora

The Mediterranean basin, the entire basin bordering the Mediterranean Sea, has unique climatic conditions. This is where an autochthonous flora, known as Mediterranean forest, develops. In Spain, this Mediterranean forest is found in the eastern and southern part of the peninsula. Likewise, this area between Africa and Europe is conditioned by its mild, wet winters and dry, hot summers. This forest is also home to a large amount of melliferous flora, from which the bees obtain fantastic monofloral and multi-floral honeys. Honeys that we have at your disposal in our shop in Las Rozas de Madrid.

Likewise, we are going to see all these climatic characteristics and their influence on the flora in more detail. In addition, we will leave a list of the melliferous flora and the characteristics of the pollen of all of them.

Abstract: The Mediterranean forest has a number of unique characteristics influenced by the Mediterranean climate. We also look at the types of plants that grow in these forests and the type of pollen they produce. Finally, in our shop in Las Rozas de Madrid you will be able to find many of these honeys: heather, orange blossom, eucalyptus honey, rosemary, thyme, chestnut and lemon.

Other interesting articles: Flowers for honey

1. Climates on the Iberian Peninsula

The Iberian Peninsula has basically four different types of climates:

1. Oceanic climate, which is found throughout the north and northwest of the peninsula, the regions bordering the Cantabrian Sea and Galicia;
2. Continental or continental Mediterranean climate, which covers the whole of central Spain;
3. Typical Mediterranean climate, covering all the regions bordering the Mediterranean Sea and including the whole of Andalusia, where the characteristic Mediterranean forest is found;
4. Mountain climate, which is found at some high altitude points of the peninsula.

This is one of the reasons for the great diversity of the peninsula.

2. Definition of the Mediterranean forest

Focusing on the Mediterranean and continental or continental or continental-Mediterranean area there is also a great variety of landscapes, where you can see large areas of olive trees and areas dominated by scrub of sclerophytic species such as thyme, wild olive, mastic – or in coastal areas the juniper and juniper -, cork oak and holm oak.

2. Climate of the Mediterranean forest

The typical Mediterranean climate is characterised by mild, short winters and long, very hot summers. Its average annual temperature of this climate usually varies between 15°C and 18°C, with irregular rainfall, between 400 mm and 700 mm, which occurs mainly in spring and autumn.

The Mediterranean flora, in herbaceous plants as well as in shrubs and trees, is very rich and a great source of resources for bees. In this table we show the most important sources of pollen and nectar used by bees. In addition, with the following table you can discover the origin of the pollen you consume.

Picture 1: Jaén, Mediterranean climate

Vegetation of the Mediterranean climate, its pollen and nectar
Below is a table with the typical plants of the Mediterranean climate, their flowering times and the beekeeping interest in the amount of nectar and pollen, and the colour of the pollen.

Common and scientific name	Flowering	Beekeeping interest	Nectar	Pollen	Colour of pollen	Pollen spectrum
Ajedreas “Satureja montana y hortensis”	June to September	Good	Null	Good	Gray
Aledierna “Rhamnus alaternus”	February to April	Good	Null	Good	From ochre to gray-greenish
Apricot tree “Prunus armeniaca”	February to April	Good	Poor	Excellent	Orange yellow
Almond tree “Prunus dulcis”	January/February to April	Excellent	Excellent	Good	Dark ochre
Asfódelo “Asphodelus albus”	Marz to June	Medium	Poor	Null	Light yellow
Bocha “Dorycnium pentaphyllum”	April to May	Good	Good	Poor	Brownish grey
Boj común “Buxus sempervirens”	Marz to May	Medium	Good	Poor	Bottle green
Tree heather “Erica arbórea”	Marz to June	Good	Good	Good	Pink
Cantueso “Lavandula stoechas”	Marz to June	Excellent	Excellent	Poor	Brown
Cardo calvero “Carduus pycnocephalus”	Marz to June	Good	Poor	Poor	Purplish rose
Clementine “Citrus clementina”	Marz to May	Medium	Excellent	Good	Dark yellow
Kermes oak, holm oak, cork oak “Quercus coccifera, ilex, suber y rotundifolia”	Marz to May	Good	Null	Null	Dark yellow
Durillo “Viburnum tinus”	February to June	Good	Poor	Poor	Light yellowish grey
Eucalyptus trees “Eucaliptus spp.”	Varies by species	Good	Excellent	Poor	Greenish, brownish
Férula “Férula communis”	Marz to August	Good	Excellent	Poor	Light yellow
Hisopo “Hyssopus officinalis”	July to September	Medium	Good	Good	Greenish brown
Jaguarzos “Cistus salviifolius y monspeliensis”	February to June	Medium	Null	Good	Orange
White rockrose “Cistus albidus”	April to June	Medium	Null	Good	Orange
Jarillas “Helianthemum spp.”	Marz to July	Good	Null	Poor	Orange
Lavender “Lavándula angustifolia y angustifolia x latifolia”	June to September	Excellent	Excellent	Poor	Yellowish grey
Arbutus “Arbutus unedo”	Octuber to January	Good	Good	Null	Light green
Peach tree “Prunus”pérsica”	Marz to April	Good	Null	Good	Yellowish ochre
Rosemary “Rosmarinus officinalis”	November to May (and intermittently until December)	Good	Excellent	Poor	Garnet
Thyme “Thymus vulgaris”	April to September	Good	Excellent	Null	Brownish ochre

Table 1: Flowers for honeybees

Source

Mediterranean forest