Search / Plant Profile / Lindera melissifolia

Plant Profile

Pondberry (Lindera melissifolia)

This fruiting, deciduous shrub can grow three to six feet tall. October, 2001, in southern Missouri. Photo Credit: Joe Ditto

Global Rank: G3 - Vulnerable
Legal Status: Federally Endangered
Family: Lauraceae
State: AL, AR, GA, LA, MO, MS, NC, SC
Nature Serve ID: 129236
Lifeform: Tree, Shrub
Date Inducted in National Collection: 05/28/1986

Description:

Pondberry is a pretty, medium sized shrub described by Steyermark (1963) as one of the rarest shrubs in the U.S. The plant flowers in early spring, before leafing out, and produces beautiful bright red fruits in late summer. Pondberry leaves are aromatic and have a strong lemon-sassafras aroma when crushed. This species is dioecious, meaning individual plants produce only male or only female flowers. However, once a male does not mean always a male. One plant growing at the Missouri Botanical Garden (MBG) apparently has changed sexes! After many years of producing only male flowers, the pondberry at MBG produced fruit! Botanists speculate that in the year the plant made the switch, some branches produced male flowers and some branches produced female flowers--hence the ability to produce fruit. Since that time, the plant has produced only female flowers.

Where is Pondberry (Lindera melissifolia) located in the wild?

Habitat:

Given its name, it is not surprising that Pondberry occurs in seasonally flooded wetlands, sandy sinks, pond margins and swampy depressions. In Arkansas and Missouri, Pondberry tends to occupy depressions that form natural swamps or ponds. Populations in North Carolina occur in soil with sandy sediments and high peat content, while in South Carolina the plants occur at the margins of limestone sinks and undrained shallow depressions. (USFWS 1993)Overstory trees at Pondberry sites include, Quercus palustris, Acer rubrum var. drummondii and Liquidambar styraciflua. Also can be found with Pinus serotina and Pinus palustris.

Distribution:

Populations are scattered across the southeast U.S. The species is presumed extirpated in Florida, Louisiana, and Alabama. (Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission 2002)

States & Provinces:

Pondberry can be found in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina

Which CPC Partners conserve Pondberry (Lindera melissifolia)?

Mercer Botanic Gardens

Conservation Actions

09/19/2020

MBG collected male stems from the wild and are cultivating them ex situ as a pollen source for the one now-female plant at the Garden. With the production of seeds ex situ, further propagation studies will be conducted.

09/19/2020

Devall et al. (2001a & b) are studying the ecology and reproductive biology of this species.

09/19/2020

MBG collected male stems from the wild and are cultivating them ex situ as a pollen source for the one now-female plant at the Garden.

09/19/2020

Nature Serve Biotics

05/02/2017

Mapped and believed extant at about 99 sites, although some of these are in close proximity, so the number of extant populations may be somewhat less. A few extant populations appear quite large, but may contain few different genetic individuals; many sites are small and isolated. Believed extirpated from Louisiana and possibly Florida; extant populations are known from the coastal plain in North Carolina south to Georgia and Alabama and from the Mississippi Embayment in Mississippi, Arkansas, and Missouri. Extensive clearing and drainage of bottomland forests is probably the major factor affecting the species, both historically and currently. Also appears susceptible to the emerging Red Bay or Laurel Wilt Disease; one Georgia population is known to be infected, but the full potential range and impact of the disease is unknown at this time. Limited sexual reproduction, dispersal, and recruitment are also a concern for the species' persistence in its now highly-fragmented habitat.

Kimberlie McCue, Ph.D.

01/01/2010

Habitat loss due to draining for agriculture or pine plantations Limited reproduction in the wild--many colonies are exclusively male

Kimberlie McCue, Ph.D.

01/01/2010

Approximately 40 populations remain extant. The majority occur in Arkansas and Mississippi. A single wild population persists in southern Missouri. The number of stems in any given site varies from a few to several hundred.

Kimberlie McCue, Ph.D.

01/01/2010

Kimberlie McCue, Ph.D.

01/01/2010

Several colonies of L. melissifolia are being protected in state parks, National Forests, or other public natural areas. An experimental population of Pondberry was established in Missouri on Missouri Department of Conservation property.

Kimberlie McCue, Ph.D.

01/01/2010

Prevent further loss of L. melissifolia habitat Study reproductive biology, seed biology, and seedling ecology Establish buffer zones around colonies in management areas

Kimberlie McCue, Ph.D.

01/01/2010

Protect the genetic resources of L. melissifolia by establishing seed banks and propagating plants ex situ Implement public education programs