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Shoebutton ardisia

Ardisia elliptica -- Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants

Ardisia elliptica

Non-Native in Florida

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Download a page (PDF 166 KB) from Identification and Biology of Nonnative Plants in Florida’s Natural Areas – Second Edition, by K.A. Langeland, H.M. Cherry, et al. University of Florida-IFAS Pub SP 257. 2008.

For control information, see Integrated Management of Nonnative Plants in Natural Areas of Florida (SP 242)
by K. A. Langeland, J. A. Ferrell, B. Sellers, G. E. MacDonald, and R. K. Stocker

This species is listed on the Florida Noxious Weed List – Rule 5B-57.007, making it “. . . unlawful to introduce, multiply, possess, move, or release . . . except under permit issued by the department . . . .” See 5B-57.004 for more information.

Date of introduction to Florida: by 1900 (ornamental)

(from Strangers in Paradise, Impact and Management of Nonindigenous Species in Florida, Chapter 2: Florida’s Invasion by Nonindigenous Plants: History, Screening, and Regulation, by D.R. Gordon and K.P. Thomas, pp. 21-37. Island Press, Washington, DC, 1997.)

 

    Ardisia elliptica is occasionally found growing in the hammocks of Brevard and St. Lucie Counties, and along the southern peninsula of Florida. Shoebutton is native to Asia but escaped cultivation (Wunderlin, 2003).

    Appearance: Evergreen, glabrous shrub or small tree to 5 m (17 ft) tall, with smooth stems and new foliage often reddish.

    Leaves: Alternate, to 20 cm (8 in) long, oblong to oval, fleshy, leathery, gland-dotted below, with margins entire.

    Flowers: Axillary clusters, star shaped, 13 mm (0.5 in) wide, with mauve-colored petals.

    Fruit: Rounded drupe, 6 mm (< 1 in) wide, red turning to black when ripe, with white juicy flesh.

    Ecological threat: Abundant in hammocks, old fields, disturbed wetlands, and tree islands in marshes, form-ing dense single-species stands in forest understories and crowding out native plants. Also invading cypress and mangrove areas along the New River in Broward County. FLEPPC Category I

    Distribution: SW, SE

    Field Notations: ARDIELLI/AREL4

    Text from Invasive and Non-Native Plants You Should Know, Recognition Cards, by A. Richard and V. Ramey, 2007. UF/IFAS Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants, Publ. No. SP 431.

    Download the Recognition Card (PDF 500KB).

    For more information and pictures, view shoebutton ardisia, as contained in the Langeland/Burks book, Identification & Biology of Non-Native Plants in Florida's Natural Areas.

    The UF/IFAS Assessment lists plants according to their invasive status in Florida.

    shoebutton ardisia See the herbarium specimen image of the University of Florida Herbarium Digital Imaging Projects.