Umbel

Definition

The signature of the carrot family — hogweed, wild carrot, fennel, angelica, coriander. Umbels are the most accessible flower architecture there is: the florets are tiny, completely open and presented on a landing platform, which makes them usable by the smallest short-tongued bees that deep flowers exclude entirely.

Honey records that discuss this

• Ajwain honeyAromatic and faintly medicinal, with a clear thyme-and-caraway note over light amber sweetness.
• Carrot seed honeyDark, savoury and faintly medicinal, with a green umbellifer note and a slightly bitter finish. A challenging honey and an interesting one.
• Five finger honeyMild, faintly green and slightly waxy, setting hard and pale. A working honey rather than a prestige one.

Plant records that discuss this

• YarrowModerate nectar and good pollen, and its real distinction is who can reach it — yarrow serves the very small and short-tongued insects that deep-flowered garden plants shut out entirely.
• AlliumGood for both from an entirely accessible flower shape, and available from a plant most vegetable gardens already contain.
• Wild carrotModerate nectar and good pollen, in the most accessible form available — its value is the breadth of the visitor list rather than the volume.
• AjwainOne of the more useful spice-crop flows in northwestern India, and valuable for its timing as much as its volume.
• Five fingerThe principal winter forage across much of lowland New Zealand, and important to native birds as much as to bees.