''Asimina pulchella'' is a rare species of flowering plant in the custard apple family known by the common names beautiful pawpaw, royal false pawpaw, and white squirrel banana. It is a federal listed endangered species.''Deeringothamnus pulchellus''.
The Nature Conservancy.

Distribution

It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, where there are perhaps 5000 plants remaining in severely fragmented

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

spread across three counties:

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

Lee Lee may refer to: Name Given name * Lee (given name), a given name in English Surname * Chinese surnames romanized as Li or Lee: ** Li (surname 李) or Lee (Hanzi ), a common Chinese surname ** Li (surname 利) or Lee (Hanzi ), a Chinese ...

, and

Orange County Orange County most commonly refers to: *Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Orange County may also refer to: U.S. counties *Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando *Orange County, Indiana *Orange County, New ...

. USFWS
Beautiful Pawpaw Five-year Review.
June 2009. This plant occurs in slash pine woods on sandy substrates among other plant species, including

saw palmetto ''Serenoa repens'', commonly known as saw palmetto, is the sole species currently classified in the genus ''Serenoa''. It is a small palm, growing to a maximum height around . It is endemic to the subtropical and tropical Southeastern United S ...

fetterbush Fetterbush is a common name for several plants in the family ''Ericaceae'', and may refer to: *''Leucothoe (plant), Leucothoe'' – several species including: **''Leucothoe fontanesiana'' (fetterbush) *''Pieris (plant), Pieris'' – several species ...

(''Lyonia lucida''), shiny blueberry (''Vaccinium myrsinites''),

dwarf live oak ''Quercus minima'', the dwarf live oak or minimal oak, is a North American species of shrubs in the beech family. It is native to the southeastern United States. ''Quercus minima'' is an evergreen or semi-evergreen shrub rarely more than tall, ...

(''Quercus minima''), and

tarflower ''Bejaria racemosa'', commonly known as tarflower, is a woody shrub with a fragrant flower found in the southeastern US states of Florida, Georgia, and Alabama. It grows on flatlands in groups. Insects become trapped on its flowers due to the sti ...

(''Bejaria racemosa''). The Orange County occurrences are about 100 miles disjunct from the Charlotte and Lee populations.

Description

This species is a small

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

growing not more than half a meter tall from a taproot. The leathery leaf blades are somewhat oval, oblong, or spatula-shaped, measuring 4 to 7 centimeters in length. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

is a solitary flower nodding or held upright on a short

peduncle Peduncle may refer to: *Peduncle (botany), a stalk supporting an inflorescence, which is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed *Peduncle (anatomy), a stem, through which a mass of tissue is attached to a body **Peduncle (art ...

. The sweet-scented flowers have varying numbers of fleshy white or pink-tinged petals that measure 2 or 3 centimeters long.''Deeringothamnus pulchellus''.
Flora of North America. The sweet fragrance of the flowers in this species is caused by benzenoid compounds including veratrole, and the alcohol

linalool Linalool () refers to two enantiomers of a naturally occurring terpene alcohol found in many flowers and spice plants. Linalool has multiple commercial applications, the majority of which are based on its pleasant scent (floral, with a touch of ...

. Its pollen is shed as permanent tetrads.Walker JW (1971) Pollen Morphology, Phytogeography, and Phylogeny of the Annonaceae. Contributions from the Gray Herbarium of Harvard University, 202: 1-130. The flowers are pollinated by a number of

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

s, including the beetle ''

Mordella atrata ''Mordella atrata'' is a species of beetle in the genus ''Mordella'' of the family Mordellidae, which is part of the superfamily Tenebrionoidea The Tenebrionoidea are a very large and diverse superfamily of beetles. It generally corresponds ...

'' and the

thrips Thrips ( order Thysanoptera) are minute (mostly long or less), slender insects with fringed wings and unique asymmetrical mouthparts. Different thrips species feed mostly on plants by puncturing and sucking up the contents, although a few are ...

species '' Frankliniella bispinosa'' and '' Thrips hawaiiensis''. The fruit is a large yellow-green

berry A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit, although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples are strawberries, raspb ...

that may be up to 7 centimeters long. One flower may yield several fruits. The berry contains a few seeds each about a centimeter long or slightly larger. This plant sometimes hybridizes with its relative, ''

Asimina reticulata ''Asimina reticulata'', the netted pawpaw, is a species of plant in the family Annonaceae. It is native to Florida in the United States. Description It is a bush reaching 1.5 meters in height. It has a deep, spindle-shaped taproot from which 1 ...

''.Norman, E. M. (2003)
Reproductive biology of ''Deeringothamnus rugelii'' and ''D. pulchellus'' (Annonaceae).
''Taxon'' 52:3 547-55.

Threats

The main threat to this species is

habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

and degradation.''Deeringothamnus pulchellus''.
Center for Plant Conservation. It was federally listed as an

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...

in 1986. Both distribution regions are becoming ever more urbanized, with wild habitat claimed for residential, commercial, and agricultural purposes. Many populations of this plant have been destroyed as the land was cleared. The remaining wild tracts are highly fragmented and isolated between stretches of developed land. These fragments are degraded by a number of processes, especially

fire suppression Wildfire suppression is a range of firefighting tactics used to suppress wildfires. Firefighting efforts in wild land areas require different techniques, equipment, and training from the more familiar structure fire fighting found in populated a ...

. The habitat is naturally maintained by periodic

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire ...

, and this plant is fire-dependent. It requires fire to clear larger vegetation and brush away so it can receive adequate sunlight. It has also been demonstrated that fire increases the plant's flower production. Other threats to the habitat and its plants include exotic plant species such as Brazilian pepper (''Schinus terebinthifolius''). Other possible threats include

all-terrain vehicle An all-terrain vehicle (ATV), also known as a light utility vehicle (LUV), a quad bike, or simply a quad, as defined by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI); is a vehicle that travels on low-pressure tires, with a seat that is stra ...

use, feral pigs, improper use of

herbicide Herbicides (, ), also commonly known as weedkillers, are substances used to control undesired plants, also known as weeds.EPA. February 201Pesticides Industry. Sales and Usage 2006 and 2007: Market Estimates. Summary in press releasMain page fo ...

s, and damage to plants by the leafroller

caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sym ...

Choristoneura parallela ''Choristoneura parallela'', the parallel-banded leafroller moth, is a species of moth of the family Tortricidae. It is found in North America, where it has been recorded from California, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Mich ...

''.

Land management Land management is the process of managing the use and development (in both urban and rural settings, but it is mostly managed in Urban places.) of land resources. Land resources are used for a variety of purposes which may include organic agricul ...

continues to be the main issue for this plant. Many of the remaining 39 occurrences are on protected public land, but even these are vulnerable to degradation and destruction because they are not maintained adequately. For the health of the plants, the habitat must undergo periodic burns and it should be protected from exotic plant species.

References

External links

USDA Plants Profile
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q17135201, from2=Q5250972

pulchella ''Pulchella'' is a diatom genus in the family Naviculaceae. Species the genus contains seven described species. *''Pulchella baicalensis'' *''Pulchella kriegeriana'' *''Pulchella minutissima'' *''Pulchella obsita'' *''Pulchella schwabei'' *'' ...

Endemic flora of Florida