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Introductory

SPECIES: Lyonia lucida | Fetterbush
ABBREVIATION : LYOLUC SYNONYMS : Lyonia nitida (Bartr.) Fern. [36] SCS PLANT CODE : LYLU3 COMMON NAMES : fetterbush hurrahbush staggerbush TAXONOMY : The currently accepted scientific name for fetterbush is Lyonia lucida (Lam.) K. Koch (Ericaceae). There are no recognized subspecies, varieties, or forms [9,14]. LIFE FORM : Shrub FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS : No special status OTHER STATUS : NO-ENTRY COMPILED BY AND DATE : Timothy R. Van Deelen, 1991 LAST REVISED BY AND DATE : NO-ENTRY AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION : Van Deelen, Timothy R. 1991. Lyonia lucida. In: Remainder of Citation

DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE

SPECIES: Lyonia lucida | Fetterbush
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION : Fetterbush grows along the United States' southeastern Coastal Plain from southeastern Virginia, throughout south-central peninsular Florida, west to Louisiana. It also grows in Cuba [9,14]. ECOSYSTEMS : FRES12 Longleaf - slash pine FRES13 Loblolly - shortleaf pine FRES14 Oak - pine FRES15 Oak - hickory FRES16 Oak - gum - cypress FRES41 Wet grasslands STATES : AL FL GA LA MS NC SC VA ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS : BICY BLRI CAHA COSW CUIS FOCA BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS : NO-ENTRY KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS : K079 Palmetto prairie K080 Marl - everglades K089 Black belt K090 Live oak - sea oats K091 Cypress savanna K105 Mangrove K112 Southern mixed forest K113 Southern floodplain forest K114 Pocosin SAF COVER TYPES : 69 Sand pine 73 Southern redcedar 74 Cabbage palmetto 81 Loblolly pine 83 Longleaf pine - slash pine 84 Slash pine 85 Slash pine - hardwood 98 Pond pine 101 Baldcypress 102 Baldcypress - tupelo 103 Water tupelo - swamp tupelo 104 Sweetbay - swamp tupelo - redbay 106 Mangrove SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES : NO-ENTRY HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES : Fetterbush is a principal shrub in the understories of pocosins [13,27,31], bayheads [23], and cypress (Taxodium spp.) heads [18,24] (all synonyms of "evergreen shrub bog" [27]). Other fetterbush sites include conifer swamps, seasonally wet flatwoods and savannas, cypress-gum (Nyssa spp.) ponds, depressions, and broadleaf seepage areas [6,9,14,28]. It is a principal understory species in the Big Cypress [7] and Okeefenokee [1] swamps, and one of the more abundant and constant shrubs in saw-palmetto (Serenoa repens) prairie [35]. Occasionally, fetterbush grows on more xeric sites such as gallberry (Ilex glabra) flatwoods and dry prairies [2,28]. Austin and others [2] describe it as a scrub "indicator", although Godfrey [14] considers it occasional in scrub communities. Overstory associates include Atlantic white cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides), various southern pines (Pinus spp.), sweet bay (Magnolia virginiana), red bay (Persea borbonia), loblolly bay (Gordonia lasianthus), cypress, and tupelo (Nyssa spp.) [9,27,28]. Understory associates include gallberry, shrubby oaks (Quercus spp.), sweetbells leucothoe (Leucothoe racemosa), highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum), sweet pepperbush (Clethera alnifolia), titi (Cyrilla racemiflora), laurelleaf greenbrier (Smilax laurifolia), and honeycup (Zenobia pulveralenta) [9,16,27].

VALUE AND USE

SPECIES: Lyonia lucida | Fetterbush
WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : NO-ENTRY IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : Because fetterbush is related to several other toxic plants in the Ericaceae family, Kingsbury [18] suspects that it may be toxic to livestock as well. Specific use of fetterbush by wildlife has not been reported although evergreen-shrub-bog habitats (see Site Characteristics) are important to a variety of southeastern wildlife species including the black bear, white-tailed deer, bobcat, marsh rabbit, eastern gray squirrel, eastern diamond-back rattlesnake, American alligator, pine barrens tree frog, and the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker [27]. PALATABILITY : Cattle find fetterbush unpalatable [30]. NUTRITIONAL VALUE : NO-ENTRY COVER VALUE : NO-ENTRY VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : NO-ENTRY OTHER USES AND VALUES : NO-ENTRY MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : Because of fetterbush's sprouting response, clearcutting reduces cover but increases foliage biomass [6].

BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS

SPECIES: Lyonia lucida | Fetterbush
GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : Fetterbush is a slow-growing, common, showy, evergreen shrub. It varies in height from 8 inches (20 cm) to 13 feet (4 m). Large shrubs have robust, branchy bases with crowns that are as broad as the height of the plant. Leaves are simple, alternate, and leathery. They are borne on green twigs which are flecked with dark, loose, deciduous scales. The small, pink flowers are borne on fascicles. The fruit is a capsule containing amber-brown, wedge-shaped seeds. Fetterbush has extensive, interconnected rhizomes which sprout and form dense clonal thickets [3,9,14,21]. RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : Phanerophyte REGENERATION PROCESSES : The primary mode of fetterbush regeneration is vegetative: Fetterbush sprouts from rhizomes. In nutrient-poor environments, it devotes its energy stores to vegetative growth instead of sexual reproduction and does not flower [31]. Information on seedling establishment and growth is lacking. SITE CHARACTERISTICS : Fetterbush occurs on sites where flooding is common [14]. Typically, these sites flood during the spring and dry out during the fall. Water tables fall well below the soil surface for the better part of the growing season. Seasonal flooding eliminates upland competitors, and summer dessication eliminates more hydric competitors [14]. Fetterbush commonly grows on soils that are strongly to extremely acidic, poorly drained, peaty, and organic (Histisols) [19,27]. It may grow on the accumulated mats of peat and root fibers that collect around the bases of cypress trees in cypress swamps [24]. SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : Facultative Seral Species Fetterbush is a mid-seral species. It follows the establishment of deciduous shrubs after disturbance in southern swamps. [8,15,25,29]. Although an understory species, it does well in full sunlight [8] and is one of several shrubs that prospers in lightly or infrequently burned pine flatwoods [5]. SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : Fetterbush has been reported to flower from April to June [9], from February to April [4], or beginning in January [29]. Leaf production begins in June and continues through September. Most leaves are lost in the November of their second year [31].

FIRE ECOLOGY

SPECIES: Lyonia lucida | Fetterbush
FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS : Fetterbush survives fire by resprouting from rhizomes and dormant basal buds [3,16,20]. POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY : Small shrub, adventitious-bud root crown Rhizomatous shrub, rhizome in soil

FIRE EFFECTS

SPECIES: Lyonia lucida | Fetterbush
IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT : Most fires top-kill fetterbush [30]. DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT : NO-ENTRY PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE : Fetterbush responds to fire by sprouting from its rhizomes and rootstock [30]. DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE : NO-ENTRY FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : NO-ENTRY

REFERENCES

SPECIES: Lyonia lucida | Fetterbush
REFERENCES : 1. Abrahamson, Warren G. 1984. Post-fire recovery of Florida Lake Wales Ridge vegetation. American Journal of Botany. 71(1): 9-21. [9509] 2. Austin, Daniel F.; Posin, Freda R.; Burch, James N. 1987. Scrub species patterns on the Atlantic Coastal Ridge, Florida. Journal of Coastal Research. 3(4): 491-498. [9340] 3. Brown, Sandra L.; Cowles, Sidney W.; Odum, Howard T. 1984. Metabolism and transpiration of cypress domes in north-central Florida. In: Ewel, Katherine Carter; Odum, Howard T., eds. Cypress swamps. Gainesville, FL: University of Florida Press: 145-163. [14847] 4. Clewell, Andre F. 1985. Guide to the vascular plants of the Florida Panhandle. Tallahassee, FL: Florida State University Press. 605 p. [13124] 5. Clewell, Andre F. 1989. Natural history of wiregrass (Aristida stricta Michx., Gramineae). Natural Areas Journal. 9(4): 223-233. [10092] 6. Conde, Louis F.; Swindel, Benee F.; Smith, Joel E. 1983. Plant species cover, frequency, and biomass: Early responses to clearcutting, chopping, and bedding in Pinus elliottii flatwoods. Forest Ecology and Management. 6: 307-317. [9661] 7. Cypert, Eugene. 1973. Plant succession on burned areas in Okefenokee Swamp following the fires of 1954 and 1955. In: Proceedings, annual Tall Timbers fire ecology conference; 1972 June 8-9; Lubbock, TX. Number 12. Tallahassee, FL: Tall Timbers Research Station: 199-217. [8467] 8. Duever, Michael J.; Riopelle, Lawrence A. 1983. Successional sequences and rates on tree islands in the Okefenokee Swamp. American Midland Naturalist. 110(1): 186-191. [14590] 9. Duncan, Wilbur H.; Duncan, Marion B. 1987. The Smithsonian guide to seaside plants of the Gulf and Atlantic Coasts from Louisiana to Massachusetts, exclusive of lower peninsular Florida. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press. 409 p. [12906] 10. Ewel, Katherine Carter. 1984. Effects of fire and wastewater on understory vegetation in cypress domes. In: Ewel, Katherine Carter; Odum, Howard T., eds. Cypress swamps. Gainesville, FL: University of Florida Press: 119-126. [14845] 11. Eyre, F. H., ed. 1980. Forest cover types of the United States and Canada. Washington, DC: Society of American Foresters. 148 p. [905] 12. Garrison, George A.; Bjugstad, Ardell J.; Duncan, Don A.; [and others]. 1977. Vegetation and environmental features of forest and range ecosystems. Agric. Handb. 475. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. 68 p. [998] 13. Gresham, Charles A. 1989. A literature review of effects of developing pocosins. In: Hook, Donal D.; Lea, Russ, eds. Proceedings of the symposium: The forested wetlands of the Southern United States; 1988 July 12-14; Orlando, FL. Gen. Tech. Rep. SE-50. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southeastern Forest Experiment Station: 44-50. [9228] 14. Godfrey, Robert K. 1988. Trees, shrubs, and woody vines of northern Florida and adjacent Georgia and Alabama. Athens, GA: The University of Georgia Press. 734 p. [10239] 15. Harris, Larry D.; Vickers, Charles R. 1984. Some faunal community characteristics of cypress ponds and the changes induced by perturbations. In: Ewel, Katherine Carter; Odum, Howard T., eds. Cypress swamps. Gainesville, FL: University of Florida Press: 171-185. [14849] 16. Johnson, Ann F.; Abrahamson, Warren G.; McCrea, Kenneth D. 1986. Compar. of biomass recovery after fire of a seeder (Ceratiola ericoides) and a sprouter (Quercus inopina) species from south-central Florida. American Midland Naturalist. 116(2): 423-428. [10217] 17. Kartesz, John T.; Kartesz, Rosemarie. 1980. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. Volume II: The biota of North America. Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press; in confederation with Anne H. Lindsey and C. Richie Bell, North Carolina Botanical Garden. 500 p. [6954] 18. Kingsbury, John M. 1964. Poisonous plants of the United States and Canada. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc. 626 p. [122] 19. Kuchler, A. W. 1964. Manual to accompany the map of potential vegetation of the conterminous United States. Special Publication No. 36. New York: American Geographical Society. 77 p. [1384] 20. Langdon, O. Gordon. 1981. Some effects of prescribed fire on understory vegetation in loblolly pine stands. In: Wood, Gene W., ed. Prescribed fire and wildlife in southern forests: Proceedings of a symposium; 1981 April 6-8; Myrtle Beach, SC. Georgetown, SC: Clemson University, Belle W. Baruch Forest Science Institute: 143-153. [14821] 21. Little, Silas; Garrett, Peter W. 1990. Chamaecyparis thyoides (L.) B.S.P. Atlantic white-cedar. In: Burns, Russell M.; Honkala, Barbara H., technical coordinators. Silvics of North America. Volume 1. Conifers. Agric. Handb. 654. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service: 103-108. [13374] 22. Lyon, L. Jack; Stickney, Peter F. 1976. Early vegetal succession following large northern Rocky Mountain wildfires. In: Proceedings, Tall Timbers fire ecology conference and Intermountain Fire Research Council fire and land management symposium; 1974 October 8-10; Missoula, MT. No. 14. Tallahassee, FL: Tall Timbers Research Station: 355-373. [1496] 23. Monk, Carl D. 1966. An ecological study of hardwood swamps in north-central Florida. Ecology. 47: 649-654. [10802] 24. Monk, Carl D.; Brown, Timothy W. 1965. Ecological consideration of cypress heads in north-central Florida. American Midland Naturalist. 74: 126-140. [10848] 25. Penfound, William T. 1952. Southern swamps and marshes. The Botanical Review. 18: 413-446. [11477] 26. Raunkiaer, C. 1934. The life forms of plants and statistical plant geography. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 632 p. [2843] 27. Richardson, Curtis J. 1983. Pocosins: vanishing wastelands or valuable wetlands?. Bioscience. 33(10): 626-633. [13818] 28. Richardson, Donald Robert. 1977. Vegetation of the Atlantic Coastal Ridge of Palm Beach County, Florida. Florida Scientist. 40(4): 281-330. [9644] 29. Schlesinger, William H. 1978. On the relative dominance of shrubs in Okefenokee Swamp. American Naturalist. 112(987): 949-954. [15360] 30. Shepherd, W. O.; Dillard, E. U.; Lucas, H. L. 1951. Grazing and fire influences in pond pine forests. Tech. Bull. No. 97. Raleigh, NC: North Carolina State College, Agricultural Experiment Station. 56 p. In cooperation with: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southeastern Forest Experiment Station. [14546] 31. Simms, E. L. 1987. The effect of nitrogen and phosphorus addition on the growth, reproduction, and nutrient dynamics of two ericaceous shrubs. Oecologia. 71: 541-547. [15359] 32. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service. 1994. Plants of the U.S.--alphabetical listing. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service. 954 p. [23104] 33. Bernard, Stephen R.; Brown, Kenneth F. 1977. Distribution of mammals, reptiles, and amphibians by BLM physiographic regions and A.W. Kuchler's associations for the eleven western states. Tech. Note 301. Denver, CO: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. 169 p. [434] 34. Stickney, Peter F. 1989. Seral origin of species originating in northern Rocky Mountain forests. Unpublished draft on file at: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory, Missoula, MT; RWU 4403 files. 7 p. [20090] 35. Davis, John H., Jr. 1943. The natural features of southern Florida especially the vegetation, and the Everglades. Geological Bull. No. 25. Tallahassee, FL: State of Florida, Department of Conservation, Florida Geological Survey. 311 p. [17747] 36. Fernald, Merritt Lyndon. 1950. Gray's manual of botany. [Corrections supplied by R. C. Rollins]. Portland, OR: Dioscorides Press. 1632 p. (Dudley, Theodore R., gen. ed.; Biosystematics, Floristic & Phylogeny Series; vol. 2). [14935]

Index

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