By Brandy Centolanza

Contributing writer

 

Pondspice, a short shrub with tiny yellow flowers, is so globally rare that it only exists in a handful of areas in the southeastern part of the United States. Zuni is one.

The Virginia Natural Heritage program, an offshoot of the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), is ramping up efforts to prevent the shrubs from becoming extinct.

Pondspice grows primarily in seasonal wetlands that are isolated. There are three known locations of the species in the commonwealth, including the Antioch Pines Natural Area Preserve along the Blackwater River in Zuni. 

The shrub was first known to be found in this area in the 1730s and is considered among the first North American plants to be introduced to Europeans thanks to specimens collected at the time by Gloucester County Clerk of Court John Clayton.

“What is fascinating is that it is one of the first North American plants to get a scientific name that is still in use today,” said Zach Bradford, steward of the Chesapeake Bay region for the Virginia Natural Heritage program. Staff with Virginia Natural Heritage work to protect Virginia’s native plant and animal life through conservation.

Although it was first identified centuries ago, pondspice, whose scientific name is Litsea aestivalis (which roughly translates to “the summer laurel”), “has only been seen a few times since,” Bradford said. Pondspice, which was thought to have been lost, was rediscovered locally in 1995.

“It went missing for 155 years, and when I say that it disappeared, I don’t mean that it didn’t exist, just that we didn’t know any was there,” Bradford said.

In Isle of Wight, pondspice can be found at Antioch and on unidentified private property, while the shrub is also located in York County at Grafton Ponds Natural Area Preserve. 

“There’s a good chance there also might be other locations where it may be found in Isle of Wight,” Bradford said.

Currently, only two plants remain in York County, both of which are female, while Antioch Pines is home to at least four male plants. Pondspice is a dioecious plant, meaning individual plants produce either male or female flowers, not both.

Conservationists are concerned that pondspice could start dying off for good. Bradford’s solution? In March, he decided to collect some pollen from the male shrubs at Antioch Pines and transplant that pollen to the female plants in York County in hopes that it would help the pondspice reproduce. So far, the project has been a success, with the female plants starting to grow fruit. 

“I have been watching the pondspice over the years and I just felt that by not doing anything was a choice to let these become extinct,” said Bradford, who has a background in botany. “I thought collecting the pollen was a basic, easy thing to do. This was an opportunity for us to do our part and do something to help, so we took it.”

The Virginia Natural Heritage program has formed a partnership with the North Carolina Botanical Garden to save the pondspice. Once the new fruit seeds in York County mature, the fruit will be taken to the botanical garden in North Carolina, where they will be grown into seedlings, with the hope of half of them being male. The new pondspice seedlings will then be replanted back at Grafton Ponds, with the intent of restoring natural pollination and fruit production there.

Bradford is thrilled to see that his experiment with the pollen worked.

“This has all been very satisfying and an exciting project to be a part of,” Bradford said. “The goal is to ensure that this globally rare plant remains in existence.”

As part of the project, Bradford will transplant additional pollen from the male shrubs in Isle of Wight to the female shrubs in York County next spring. The seedlings are anticipated to be replanted in about two years. 

Bradford said that anyone who has seasonal wetlands on their property should check to see if they also could have pondspice growing and let staff at The Virginia Natural Heritage program know. For information on the program, visit https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/.