2.
Ardisia elliptica
Thunberg, Nov. Gen. Pl. 119. 1798.
Shoebutton ardisia
Shrubs,
not stoloniferous , 1-2 m; branchlets conspicuously black punctate-lineate, glabrous.
Leaves:
petiole 5-10 mm, glabrous; blade oblanceolate or obovate, 6-12(-16) × 3-5(-7) cm, margins entire, revolute, (without vascularized nodules), apex obtuse or acute, surfaces glabrous.
Inflorescences
lateral or subterminal, on basally thickened lateral branches, subumbels or umbels, 5+-flowered.
Pedicels
erect, ca. 1-2 cm, glabrous.
Flowers:
sepals 5, broadly ovate, ca. 1 mm, margins subentire, (minutely ciliate), apex rounded, densely black-punctate, glabrous; petals 5, pink or white, broadly ovate, 6-8 mm, margins entire, (hyaline, scarious), apex long-acuminate, densely punctate, glabrous; stamens subequaling petals; anthers linear-lanceolate, transversely septate-lobed, apex apiculate, punctate abaxially; ovary pellucid-punctate, glabrous; ovules 5+, multiseriate.
Drupes
red or purplish black, subglobose, ca. 8 mm diam., minutely punctate.
2
n
= 48.
Flowering Feb-Apr; fruiting Sep-Nov. Roadsides, scrub, near villages, edges of fields, along coasts; 0-20 m; introduced; Fla.; pantropical.
The names
Ardisia solanacea
Roxburgh and
A. polycephala
Wight have been misapplied to specimens of
A. elliptica
, which escapes from cultivation and is invasive.
