Pondberry

Lindera melissifolia

Description

Pondberry, Lindera melissifolia, is a deciduous shrub that grows as high as 6.5 ft (2 m) and spreads vegetatively by stolons—lateral shoots that extend along the ground and take root to form new plants. Pale yellow flowers appear in early spring before the leaves. The fruit, a bright red drupe (a fleshy, single-seeded fruit), matures in late autumn. Leaves are elliptical, untoothed, and emit a strong, sassafras aroma when crushed. Pondberry is distinguished from the two other North American members of the genus—common spicebush (L. benzoin ) and hairy spicebush (L. subcoriacea )—by its drooping leaves.

Habitat

The bottomland hardwood stands, poorly drained depressions, and margins of limestone sinks in which pondberry grows, have all been reduced in number and in quality by land clearing and drainage activities in historic and recent times.

Distribution

Pondberry was first collected in Berkeley County, South Carolina, in 1788. After classification, the species was found in nine southeastern states. It is currently known from six states and has probably been eliminated from three others—Alabama, Florida, and Louisiana.

Pondberry is known from 36 naturally occurring populations in Arkansas (10 populations), Missouri (one population), Mississippi (13 populations), Georgia (four populations), North Carolina (three populations), and South Carolina (five populations).

During 1985, the Arkansas Natural Heritage Inventory conducted an intensive aerial and ground survey that encompassed 13 counties in northern Arkansas. Nine populations of pondberry were found in Clay, Woodruff, Lawrence, and Jackson Counties. Most populations are on privately owned, unprotected land, and are threatened by further habitat alteration. An additional population was found later.

In Missouri, a population discovered in Ripley County is thought to be a northern remnant of an historic population in adjacent Clay County, Arkansas. Most of this site is now owned by the Missouri Department of Conservation and the Nature Conservancy.

Of the 13 pondberry populations known in Mississippi localities, 10 are in Sharkey County on the Delta National Forest, including one population partially situated within a natural research area administered by the Forest Service; two populations occur in Sunflower County on private land; and one population occurs on private land in Bolivar County.

Three privately owned populations of pondberry are found in Wheeler County, Georgia. In the late 1980s, one population was the subject of a salvage operation that attempted to transplant endangered plants to adjacent state-owned lands. As of 1993, only one of the populations was known to reproduce vegetatively. The other populations are located on lightly disturbed land; due to their unprotected state, however, they are still threatened by development.

Threats

Pondberry is jeopardized across its wide range by loss of wetland habitat. To reclaim these areas, drainage ditches are dug to dry up the natural bogs and moist bottomland forest areas. Such ditching is typically followed by intensive logging, or by conversion of land to agriculture or other uses. Even ditching alone without subsequent land conversion can alter the water regime in a way that either reduces the plant's vigor or eliminates it from a site.

Bottomland hardwood stands have been greatly reduced in all states. It is estimated that 95% of Missouri lowland forest has been lost since settlement times, and hardwood habitat in other states has suffered similarly. North Carolina's coastal wetland forests are being drained and cleared for agriculture and pine plantations on a large scale. Recovery of this species will require a significant effort to preserve remaining stands of hardwoods and associated wetlands.

The Bladen County, North Carolina, population has been harmed by fire and by clearing and drainage of adjacent lands. The single Missouri population was damaged in 1985 by unauthorized timber harvesting on Nature Conservancy lands. The U. S. Forest Service has jurisdiction over populations in South Carolina and is responsible for developing watershed protection plans for the pondberry habitat.

Natural disasters and animals are a potential threat to the species. In the fall of 1989, for example, Hurricane Hugo caused extensive damage in the Francis Marion National Forest in South Carolina; fortunately, a 1990 report found little evidence of damage to the populations located there. Some populations have been adversely affected by domestic animals, such as hogs, and by wildlife. These populations and others may decline because of animal interference. One site in Arkansas is grazed by cattle, which has encouraged the invasion into the site of aggressive weedy species. In addition, plants at one Georgia site were being trampled by domestic hogs, so the few remaining plants were transplanted adjacent to state-owned lands. Grazing by white-tailed deer in the Francis Marion National Forest may have also adversely affected the pondberry, according to a 1988 study.

Despite the regular production of mature fruits, no seedlings of pondberry have been observed at any of the known sites. The cause of this apparent lack of reproduction is unknown, and in the long term significantly reduces the species' chances for survival. All populations have suffered some degree of stem "dieback," which destroys older stems and may be related to a fungal infection. The plant is listed as endangered in Missouri and North Carolina and is protected from commercial exploitation in those states. It is recognized as endangered by other states in its range.

Conservation and Recovery

The 1993 species recovery plan from the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service has the objective of delisting the species, by taking a variety of actions, including searching for new populations and protecting and monitoring existing populations, and studying the species and its habitat. Other actions being taken include the determination and development of management requirements for the species' recovery and protection. Selected biological material is being cultivated, and seeds from all populations have been or will be placed in seed banks. The plan also calls for the implementation of a public education program.

Contacts

U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Regional Office, Division of Endangered Species
1 Federal Drive
BHW Federal Building
Fort Snelling, Minnesota 55111
Telephone: (612) 713-5360
http://midwest.fws.gov/

U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Regional Office, Division of Endangered Species
1875 Century Blvd., Suite 200
Atlanta, Georgia 30345
http://southeast.fws.gov/

References

Klomps, U. L. 1980. "The Status of Lindera melissifolia (Walt.) Blume, Pondberry, in Missouri." Transactions of the Missouri Academy of Science 4: 61-66.

Morgan, S. 1983. "Lindera melissifolia, a Rare Southeastern Shrub." Natural Areas Journal 3 (4): 62-67.

U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1993. "Pondberry Recovery Plan." U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Atlanta.