Home/Species/ Staggerbush

Lyonia mariana

(L.) D. Don

Staggerbush

G5Secure Found in 5 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →

G5SecureGlobal Rank

UnknownThreat Impact

Identity

Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.129341

Element CodePDERI0R050

Record TypeSPECIES

ClassificationSpecies

Classification StatusStandard

Name CategoryVascular Plant

Endemicendemic to a single nation

KingdomPlantae

PhylumAnthophyta

ClassDicotyledoneae

OrderEricales

FamilyEricaceae

GenusLyonia

Other Common Names

piedmont staggerbush (EN) Piedmont Staggerbush (EN)

Concept Reference

Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.

Conservation Status

Rank Method Rank calculation - Biotics v2

Review Date2024-06-24

Change Date1983-09-30

Edition Date2024-06-24

Edition AuthorsSoteropoulos (2024)

Threat ImpactUnknown

Range Extent200,000-2,500,000 square km (about 80,000-1,000,000 square miles)

Number of Occurrences> 300

Rank Reasons

Lyonia mariana is a wide-ranging shrub occurring in the eastern and south central United States from Rhode Island and New York south to Florida and disjunct west of the Mississippi River in Missouri and Oklahoma south to Louisiana and Texas. Threats potentially include development, logging, recreational activities, succession, and invasive species. Little is known about trends, but with a large range extent and large number of occurrences, this species is considered secure.

Range Extent Comments

Lyonia mariana occurs in the eastern and south central United States from Rhode Island (historic) and Long Island, New York south to Florida and disjunct west of the Mississippi River in south central Missouri (historic), central and southern Arkansas, northwestern Louisiana, southeastern Oklahoma, and eastern Texas (FNA 2009, Weakley and the Southeastern Flora Team 2024). Range extent was estimated to be over 1.6 million square kilometers using herbarium specimens, photo-based observations, and NatureServe Network occurrence data documented between 1993 and 2024 (GBIF 2024, iNaturalist 2024, NatureServe 2024, SEINet 2024).

Occurrences Comments

By applying a 1 km separation distance to herbarium specimens, photo-based observations, and NatureServe Network occurrence data documented between 1993 and 2024, it is estimated that there are over 300 occurrences rangewide (GBIF 2024, iNaturalist 2024, NatureServe 2024, SEINet 2024).

Threat Impact Comments

Although threats are not widely documented, this species is potentially threatened by development, logging, recreational activities, succession, invasive species, and other threats in some places.

Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Lyonia mariana grows in open, acid, dry to moist pine and/or oak forests, flatwoods, or savannas, often in ecotonal situations such as pocosin-sandhill ecotones, less often in shrub bogs, dry rocky woodlands (especially with chestnut oak), pond margins, and acid swamps (FNA 2009, Weakley and the Southeastern Flora Team 2024).

Terrestrial Habitats

Forest - HardwoodForest - ConiferForest - MixedWoodland - HardwoodWoodland - ConiferWoodland - MixedShrubland/chaparralGrassland/herbaceous

Palustrine Habitats

SCRUB-SHRUB WETLANDFORESTED WETLANDBog/fenRiparian

Other Nations (1)

United StatesN5

Province	Rank	Native
North Carolina	S5	Yes
Arkansas	SNR	Yes
Rhode Island	SH	Yes
Pennsylvania	S1	Yes
Texas	SNR	Yes
Maryland	SNR	Yes
Florida	S3	Yes
South Carolina	S5	Yes
Delaware	S2	Yes
Connecticut	SH	Yes
Oklahoma	S1	Yes
Missouri	SH	Yes
District of Columbia	SNR	Yes
Virginia	S5	Yes
New York	S4	Yes
Louisiana	S1	Yes
Alabama	SNR	Yes
New Jersey	S5	Yes
Georgia	SNR	Yes

Threat Assessments

Threat	Scope	Severity	Timing
Unknown/undetermined	—	—	—

Plant Characteristics

DurationPERENNIAL

Economic Value (Genus)No

Roadless Areas (5)

Florida (2)

Area	Forest	Acres
Alexander Springs Creek	Ocala National Forest	2,954
Farles Prairie	Ocala National Forest	1,901

North Carolina (2)

Area	Forest	Acres
Pond Pine B	Croatan National Forest	2,961
Sheep Ridge Addition	Croatan National Forest	5,808

South Carolina (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Wambaw Ext	Francis Marion National Forest	527

References (7)

Flora of North America Editorial Committee (FNA). 2009. Flora of North America north of Mexico. Vol. 8. Magnoliophyta: Paeoniaceae to Ericaceae. Oxford University Press, New York. xxiv + 585 pp.
Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). 2024. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) data portal. Online. Available: https://www.gbif.org/ (accessed 2024).
iNaturalist. 2024. Online. Available: https://www.inaturalist.org (accessed 2024).
Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.
NatureServe. 2024. NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia.
Southwest Environmental Information Network (SEINet). 2024. Collections Databases. Online. Available: https://swbiodiversity.org/seinet/collections/index.php (accessed 2024).
Weakley, A.S., and Southeastern Flora Team. 2024. Flora of the southeastern United States. Edition of March 4, 2024. University of North Carolina Herbarium (NCU), North Carolina Botanical Garden, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. 2203 pp.

Lyonia mariana

Habitat

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