A recently discovered population was found in Ripley County, Missouri on land that is mostly owned by the Missouri Department of Conservation and the Nature Conservancy. In Missis sippi, pondberry is found in Sharkey County within a natural research area administered by the Forest Service, and in Sunflower County on private land. Two populations of pondberry are found in Wheeler County, Georgia, both on privately owned lands. Four populations occur on Forest Service land in Berkeley County, South Carolina and Bladen County. North Carolina contains one population whose habitat has been seriously affected by development.
All plants occur in fairly low numbers and there are no exact population figures.
The pondberry is seriously threatened by loss of wetland habitat and bottomland hardwood stands. Much of pondberry habitat has been drained or cleared for logging and agricultural purposes. Recovery of this species highly depends on preserving existing hardwood stands and wetland habitat, in addition to further studies regarding reproduction. Vol I, pp. Return to the top of the current page .