Search / Plant Profile / Litsea aestivalis

Plant Profile

Pondspice (Litsea aestivalis)

Global Rank: G3 - Vulnerable
Legal Status: N/A
Family: Lauraceae
State: FL, GA, MD, NC, SC, VA
Nature Serve ID: 136111
Lifeform: Shrub
Date Inducted in National Collection:

Description:

deciduous shrub

Where is Pondspice (Litsea aestivalis) located in the wild?

Habitat:

found on margins of swamps, cypress ponds, sandhill depression ponds, and in hardwood swamps

Distribution:

States & Provinces:

Pondspice can be found in Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia

Which CPC Partners conserve Pondspice (Litsea aestivalis)?

Bok Tower Gardens

Not Sponsored

Conservation Actions

Assigned 06/09/17

CPC's Plant Sponsorship Program provides long term stewardship of rare plants in our National Collection. We are so grateful for all our donors who have made the Plant Sponsorship Program so successful. We are in the process of acknowledging all our wonderful plant sponsorship donors on our website. This is a work in progress and will be updated regularly.

Conservation Actions

Tina Stanley

05/11/2023

According to a March 2023 extract of the Florida Plant Rescue Database, Bok Tower Gardens holds 7 accessions of Litsea aestivalis totalling approximately 1726 seeds.

Nature Serve Biotics

05/02/2017

Uncommon, coastal plain from Maryland to Florida, usually in low numbers when found. Threatened by alterations in hydrology and by suppression of natural fire regimes. Also threatened by invasive exotic plants, feral hogs and by Red bay or Laurel wilt disease, a rapidly spreading fungal disease for which it is a documented host. This disease is causing widespread mortality of red bay (Persea borbonia) and (Persea palustris) trees in coastal SC, GA, and FL and is spreading rapidly. Some detrimental effects of laurel wilt on Litsea aestivalis have also been documented (Hughes 2011, Surdick & Jenkins 2010).

01/01/2010

sustained significant habitat loss due to draining of its habitat

01/01/2010

Southeastern Coastal Plain from Louisiana through northern Florida to North Carolina; extierpated in southeastern Virginia. Recorded from 13 counties in Georgia