## 3 Results and Discussion  
### Determination of Geographical and Botanical Origins of Corsican \"Spring\" Honeys  
The analysis of 41 Corsican \"spring\" honeys allowed the determination of 92 taxa, including 64 nectariferous taxa and 28 only-polleniferous taxa (Table 1). A biogeographical analysis (biogeographical code: BC [5]) showed the diversity of biogeographical origins of these taxa. Mediterranean species (28 taxa, BC 1-3) associated with Eurasian and Atlantic species (13 taxa, BC 5-6) were well represented in the pollen spectrum. Additionally, cultivated species (four taxa, BC 99) were reported in more than 40% of honey samples. This distribution was consistent with the database of the characterization of the Corsican honey taxa directory [5, 11]. To define the most representative taxa of Corsican \"spring\" honey, the presence ratio (PR) and the relative frequency (RF) distributions (mean, minimum, maximum, standard deviation and coefficient variation) of each taxon were reported. The pollen directory showed that 50 taxa (**T1**-**T50**) could be considered as regionally characteristic species of Corsican \"spring\" honey for their significant PR (\(>\)10%) and/or RFmax (\(>\)3%). This distribution of taxa was characterized by a wide diversity of nectariferous taxa in variable proportions associated with several only-polleniferous species. Among these taxa, two main only-polleniferous taxa, _Quercus_ sp. **T1** (_Qeurcus_ sp. (deciduous), _Q.__ilex_ and _Q.__suber_) and _Cistus_ sp. **T2** (_C.__creticus_, _C.__m nonspeliensis_ and _C.__salvifolius_), were present in all the samples analyzed, followed by _Castanea sativa_**T3** and _Frazimus ornus_**T4** (PR \(>\) 90%). Additionally,we did not find a common predominant nectariferous taxon, unlike two previous studies [24,29]: \"chestnut grove\" honey predominated by _C. sativa_ with PR = 100%, \(\mathrm{FR}_{\mathrm{max}}>\) 80% and \(\mathrm{FR}_{\mathrm{mean}}=\) 92.99% and \"spring maquis\" honey predominated by the \"normal\" pollen type of _Erica arborea_ with PR = 100%, \(\mathrm{FR}_{\mathrm{max}}>\) 45% and \(\mathrm{FR}_{\mathrm{mean}}=\) 47.7%. Quite the contrary, this directly demonstrates a diversity of nectariferous taxa with various pollen representation types: for example, \"over-represented\" (**T7** and **T13**), \"normal\" (**T5**, **T6**, **T8**, **T9** and **T14**) and \"under-represented\" (**T17**, **T18** and **T22**) pollen types [5]. According to these considerations, two groups of honeys could therefore be distinguished, based not by their FR distributions, but by characteristic associations of taxa (Table 2, Table S1-supplementary materials). The first group included 18 samples (group I: 1-18) and was characterized by the association of cultivated taxa: _Citrus sp._**T18** and _A. sinensis_**T15** (PR 100% in 18 samples) followed by _Prunus_ form **T11** and _Olea_ sp. **T25**. _Citrus_ sp. contained essentially _C. sinensis_\(\times\)_reticulata_, which possessed an under-represented pollen type, principally due to nectar secretion of _Citrus_ sp. flowers, often before the maturity of stamens. _Citrus_ pollen varied between 0.2% and 16.1%, with an average