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Species
Ardisia elliptica Thunberg
IUCN
NCBI
EOL Text
The native distribution of Ardisia elliptica is not entirely certain, and the original range of the species has variously included India, Sri Lanka, China Taiwan, Malaya, Southeast Asia, Indonesia, and the Philippines (Tomlinson 1986, Langland and Burks 1998, Yuen-Po 1999).The plant is an introduced exotic that now occurs in the East Indies and Okinawa, Japan, and has become naturalized in south Florida, Hawaii, and the Caribbean (Langland and Burks 1998, Francis undated). Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council collection records indicate that Ardisia elliptica is present in the southern half of the India River Lagoon watershed in St. Lucie, Martin, and Palm Beach counties. Wunderlin et al. (1995) also indicate the plant is present in Brevard County, based on vouchered specimens. Brevard is the northernmost county from which the plant has been collected.
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Rights holder/Author | Text can be freely copied and altered, as long as original author and source are properly acknowledged. |
Source | http://www.sms.si.edu/irlspec/Ardisia_elliptica.htm |
Red List Criteria
Version
Year Assessed
- Needs updating
Assessor/s
Reviewer/s
History
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1998Vulnerable (V)
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources |
Source | http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/33355 |
200-1100 m
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | eFloras.org Copyright © Missouri Botanical Garden |
Source | http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=110&taxon_id=200016807 |
Shoebutton ardesia, Ardisia elliptica, is a tropical shrub or small tree not native to Florida but now occurring as an invasive species in the southern half of the state. The typical growth form in undamaged plants is a single, smooth stem that gives rise to short, perpendicular branches. Plants may send up additional stems from the rootstock, particularly after damage. Individuals produce strong taproots that produce highly branched lateral roots.The leaves are alternate, oblong to oval, pointed at the tips, smooth and leathery/rubbery, 8-20 cm long, pink to reddish in young plants and turning dark green with age. Star-shaped flowers, to 13 mm wide with pale violet-colored petals occur in axillary clusters. Fruits are round, berry-like drupes, 6 mm wide that are white when young and turning red and then dark purple to black when ripe, and capable of staining fingers. The flesh of the ripe fruit is juicy when broken and white in color, and each fruit contains a single seed (Langland and Burks 1998, Francis undated, ISSG).
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Text can be freely copied and altered, as long as original author and source are properly acknowledged. |
Source | http://www.sms.si.edu/irlspec/Ardisia_elliptica.htm |
United States
Rounded National Status Rank: NNA - Not Applicable
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | NatureServe |
Source | http://explorer.natureserve.org/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Ardisia+elliptica |
Shrubs or trees to 6 m tall, glabrous. Branchlets prominently angular, 5-7 mm in diam. Petiole canaliculate, 1-2 cm; leaf blade elliptic or oblanceolate, 12-20 × 4-7 cm, papery, conspicuously black punctate and punctate-lineate abaxially, not prominently punctate adaxially, base cuneate or narrowly decurrent on petiole, margin subrevolute, entire, apex acute; lateral veins ca. 20 on each side of midrib, raised on both surfaces, marginal vein absent. Inflorescences at bases of new shoots, paniculate with racemose or rarely corymbose branches, 3-8 cm. Flowers leathery, pink, ca. 1 cm. Sepals broadly ovate to reniform, ca. 3 mm, densely black punctate, base subauriculate, margin subentire or crenulate, ciliate, scarious, apex rounded. Petals nearly free; lobes broadly ovate, ca. 9 mm, punctate, margin entire, hyaline, apex obtuse or acute. Stamens subequalling petals; filaments ca. 1/4 anther length; anthers linear-lanceolate, densely punctate dorsally, longitudinally dehiscent, apex acute. Pistil subequalling petals; ovary globose, densely punctate; ovules numerous, multiseriate. Fruit purplish red or blackish, oblate, 7-9 mm in diam., densely black punctate. Fl. Feb-Mar, fr. Aug-Nov. 2n = 46.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | eFloras.org Copyright © Missouri Botanical Garden |
Source | http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200016807 |
Rounded Global Status Rank: GNR - Not Yet Ranked
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | NatureServe |
Source | http://explorer.natureserve.org/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Ardisia+elliptica |
"Trees, to 6 m high; bark brown, smooth. Leaves simple, alternate, estipulate; petiole to 10 mm long, stout, glabrous; lamina 10-18 x 4-6 cm, obovate, elliptic-obovate or oblanceolate, base cuneate, apex acuminate or acute, margin entire or obscurely crenate, glabrous, glaucous beneath, coriaceous, gland-dotted; lateral nerves 9-20 pairs, parallel, slender, obscure, secondary laterals faint, intercostae obscure. Flowers bisexual, 1.3 cm across, bright pink, in axillary or lateral umbels; peduncle 5-(12) cm long; bracts 1.5-2 mm long, concave, deciduous; calyx lobes 5, 3 x 1.5 mm, concave, ovate, obtuse, ciliate, persistent, leathery, twisted to right; corolla 2.5 cm across; lobes 5, twisted to right, in bud, 10 x 7 mm, ovate, coriaceous, punctate; stamens 5, connivent around style, exserted; filaments short; anthers sagitate, 7 mm; ovary superior, globose 3 x 2 mm, 1-celled, ovules many; style elongate, as long as the corolla lobes; stigma terminal. Fruit a berry 8 mm across, globose, bright red."
An endemic species to the Philippines.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources |
Source | http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/33355 |
Major Threats
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources |
Source | http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/33355 |