Pondspice
Litsea aestivalis
In the Carolinas and Georgia, found in margins of limesink ponds and Carolina bays, less commonly in wet depressions and wet stringers dominated by shrubs. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition What its natural habitat tells you
21
Good
Native to Louisiana. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 88%
- Height
- Up to about 10 feet
- Light
- Partial shade
- Soil moisture
- Usually moist
No photograph yet. Looking for an old drawing…
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Woody perennial
- Leaves
- Deciduous
- Bloom
- March to April
- Fruiting season
- May to June
JFMAMJJASOND
Not yet recorded · Spread
Recorded in 1 Louisiana parish.
Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Louisiana. Shared habitat, not food. 65 animals.
- Green HeronButorides virescens
- Hairy WoodpeckerPicoides villosus
- Hermit ThrushCatharus guttatus
- Hooded MerganserLophodytes cucullatus
- Hooded WarblerWilsonia citrina
- Least FlycatcherEmpidonax minimus
- Lesser ScaupAythya affinis
- Little Blue HeronEgretta caerulea
- Magnificent FrigatebirdFregata magnificens
- MallardAnas platyrhynchos
- Neotropic CormorantPhalacrocorax brasilianus
- Northern ParulaParula americana
- Northern ShovelerAnas clypeata
- Northern WaterthrushSeiurus noveboracensis
- Orchard OrioleIcterus spurius
- OvenbirdSeiurus aurocapilla
- Painted BuntingPasserina ciris
- Pileated WoodpeckerDryocopus pileatus
- Prothonotary WarblerProtonotaria citrea
- Purple GallinulePorphyrio martinica
- Red-bellied WoodpeckerMelanerpes carolinus
- Red-shouldered HawkButeo lineatus
- Ring-necked DuckAythya collaris
- Roseate SpoonbillPlatalea ajaja
Widespread birds also seen here (28)
Found in many habitats here, so not listed above.
- American Goldfinch
- American Kestrel
- American Robin
- Bald Eagle
- Black-crowned Night-heron
- Blue Grosbeak
- Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
- Cedar Waxwing
- Common Nighthawk
- Cooper's Hawk
- Double-crested Cormorant
- Eastern Kingbird
- European Starling
- Great Egret
- Great Horned Owl
- Mourning Dove
- Northern Cardinal
- Northern Flicker
- Northern Mockingbird
- Osprey
- Purple Finch
- Red-tailed Hawk
- Red-winged Blackbird
- Sharp-shinned Hawk
- Turkey Vulture
- Yellow-breasted Chat
- Yellow-crowned Night-heron
- Yellow-rumped Warbler
Ecological relationships
Who uses this plant?
2CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including LA
Genus host records with ranges including LA · Litsea
- Papilio palamedesPalamedes Swallowtail
- Papilio troilusSpicebush Swallowtail
0BeesSoutheastern regional records
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
—BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claimNo records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Growing and identification
Plant details
- Family
- Lauraceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 8a–9b
- Flower color
- Yellow
- Fruit begins
- May
- Fruit ends
- June
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “March to April” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Yellow” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Fruit begins · “May” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Fruit ends · “June” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Hardiness · “Zones 8a–9b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “Up to about 10 feet” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Leaves · “Deciduous” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Life cycle · “Woody perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center differs)
- Light · “Partial shade (direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- primary_flower_color · “yellow” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil · “Moist; Occasionally wet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Conservation status
| Louisiana rank | SH |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G3? |
| LA status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
In your garden
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Sources
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Florida edition
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- NatureServe Explorer
- Louisiana occurrence source
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications