Red bartsia
An inconspicuous, semi-parasitic annual of trackways and field margins that almost nobody notices, and which supports a bee found essentially nowhere else. Melitta tricincta provisions its cells with red bartsia pollen alone, which makes this dusty roadside weed a conservation plant in a way that its appearance gives no hint of.
Value to bees
- Nectar
- Moderate
- Pollen
- Moderate
- As a honey crop
- Not a honey source
- Which bees, and why
- Melitta tricincta collects pollen from red bartsia and from nothing else, so its distribution is effectively a map of this plant's. Bumblebees and honey bees work the flowers for nectar late in the season when little else is left.
- Worth knowing
- Modest in volume and decisive in kind. A single specialist bee depends on it absolutely.
Flowering
- In flower
- July to September (northern hemisphere)
Growing it
- Conditions
- Open, disturbed, low-fertility ground in full sun. It is hemiparasitic on grass roots and needs grass present to establish.
- Size
- 10-50 cm tall.
- Native range
- Europe and western Asia, on trackways, field margins, waste ground and short grassland.
- Suits
- Meadow or wildflower area
- Hemiparasitic on grasses, so it must be sown into an existing sward rather than into bare soil.
- Sow fresh seed in autumn; it needs cold to germinate.
- It suppresses grass vigour, which is useful in meadow creation for the same reason yellow rattle is.
What it looks like
A small, stiff, often reddish-tinged annual with narrow toothed leaves and small dull pink two-lipped flowers borne along one side of the stem. Unremarkable to look at and easily walked past.
Sources
- Field Guide to the Bees of Great Britain and Ireland — Bloomsbury (2015) · Field guide
- HoneyHQ editorial synthesis — HEKNO Ltd · HoneyHQ synthesis
How sources are selected and weighted is set out in the sources and evidence policy.
Guides covering this plant
- Why flowering seasons matterBees and flowers have to be in the same place at the same time. That synchrony is being pulled apart by warming, and for specialist bees with narrow windows it is a serious problem.
- How to make a garden genuinely useful to beesMost bee-friendly advice covers flowers in June, which is the one thing bees are least short of. The gaps are at the ends of the year — and half the problem is not flowers at all.
- Making a wildflower area for beesA meadow is made by reducing fertility and weakening grass, not by scattering seed on a lawn. The single most useful plant in the process is a parasite.
Tools for planning planting
- Flowering calendar
What should I plant so that something is always in flower for bees?
- Bee-friendly garden planner
What should I plant in the space I actually have?
- Plant recommendation tool
Which plant fills this specific gap?