''Ardisia elliptica'' is an evergreen tree, also known as the shoebutton ardisia, duck's eye and coralberry, native to the west coast of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

and

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torres ...

. It is a prolific reproducer which has made it a successful invasive species in other locations in the tropics where it has been introduced as a garden ornamental.

Description

''Ardisia elliptica'' is a tropical understory shrub that can reach heights of up 5 meters. Undamaged plants in forest habitats are characterized by a single stem, producing short, perpendicular branches. Leaves are elliptic to elliptic-obovate, entire, leathery and alternate. Umbellate inflorescences develop in leaf axils of branch leaves. Petals are light pink. Fruits are drupes that first turn red as they mature and then deep purple / black. Pulp staining fingers a deep purple. Seeds are approximately spherical with a diameter of about 5 mm.

Status

Ardisia solanacea ''Ardisia solanacea'', called shoebutton ardisia in English, is a type (biology), species of the genus '' Ardisia'' in family (biology), family Primulaceae (subfamily Myrsinoideae). Description ''Ardisia solanacea'' is a 1.5 to 6 meters high eve ...

'' and ''

Ardisia humilis ''Ardisia humilis'' (jet berry) is a species of flowering plant in the genus ''Ardisia'' in the family Primulaceae, native to southeastern Asia in southern China ( Guangdong, Hainan), the Philippines, and Vietnam.Flora of China''Ardisia humi ...

'' are considered to be included in the single variable species ''Ardisia elliptica'' by some botanists.

Invasive species

It is grown in gardens as an ornamental and has become an invasive species in

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

, tropical Australia (

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

, Northern Territory), Southern

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 ...

in the US, the Caribbean, the Mascarene Islands,

the Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, V ...

, and on several Pacific islands such as

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. Given ideal conditions, individuals can reach reproductive maturity in 2–4 years in the field and 1–2 years in a shade house. Large adults in bright forested sites have been measured producing up to 400 fruits. However, adults can also successfully set

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in partic ...

under shady conditions.

Seed A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiosper ...

s do not have any long-term dormancy (i.e., greater than 6 months), however, seedlings and juveniles can survive under very shady conditions for many years. Given enough light, juveniles rapidly develop into reproductive adults. Its fruit is readily consumed by both avian and mammalian

frugivore A frugivore is an animal that thrives mostly on raw fruits or succulent fruit-like produce of plants such as roots, shoots, nuts and seeds. Approximately 20% of mammalian herbivores eat fruit. Frugivores are highly dependent on the abundance and ...

s and rapid spread across a landscape is possible.

Phytoconstituents

The benzoquinone rapanone, the terpenoids bauerenol and

amyrin The amyrins are three closely related natural chemical compounds of the triterpene class. They are designated α-amyrin (ursane skeleton), β-amyrin (oleanane skeleton) and δ-amyrin. Each is a pentacyclic triterpenol with the chemical formula ...

, and the phenolic compounds syringic acid, isorhamnetin, quercetin, bergenin, 5-(Z-heptadec-4'-enyl)resorcinol and

5-pentadecylresorcinol Adipostatin A is an alkylresorcinol, a type of phenolic lipids composed of long aliphatic chains and phenolic rings. Chemically, it is similar in structure to urushiol, the irritant found in poison ivy. Adipostatin A can be found in ''Gingko ...

can be found in ''A. elliptica''.

Pharmacology

Antiplatelet and Antibacterial.

Ethnopharmacology

In Malaysia, a decoction of leaves is said to assuage retrosternal pains, and a paste made from the leaves is used to treat herpes and

measles Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by measles virus. Symptoms usually develop 10–12 days after exposure to an infected person and last 7–10 days. Initial symptoms typically include fever, often greater than , cough, ...

. In Thai traditional medicine, the fruits are used to cure

diarrhoea Diarrhea, also spelled diarrhoea, is the condition of having at least three loose, liquid, or watery bowel movements each day. It often lasts for a few days and can result in dehydration due to fluid loss. Signs of dehydration often begin w ...

with fever. In Southeast Asia leaves are used to treat

scabies Scabies (; also sometimes known as the seven-year itch) is a contagious skin infestation by the mite ''Sarcoptes scabiei''. The most common symptoms are severe itchiness and a pimple-like rash. Occasionally, tiny burrows may appear on the ski ...

, and fruit for intestinal worms.Giesen, Wulffraat, Zieren, and Scholten. "Mangrove Guidebook for Southeast Asia", p. 671. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and Wetlands International, 2006. . tp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/010/ag132e/ag132e10.pdf ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/010/ag132e/ag132e10.pdf/ref>

References

Wiart, Christophe. "Medicinal Plants of Asia and the Pacific", p. 56. CRC Press 2006, . Preview available at

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical ...

. Koh Hwee Ling, Chua Tung Kian, and Tan Chay Hoon. "A Guide to Medicinal Plants: An Illustrated, Scientific and Medicinal Approach", p. 14. World Scientific Publishing 2009, . Preview available at

. Giesen, Wulffraat, Zieren, and Scholten. "Mangrove Guidebook for Southeast Asia", p. 671. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and Wetlands International, 2006. . tp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/010/ag132e/ag132e10.pdf ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/010/ag132e/ag132e10.pdf/references>

External links

{{Commons * Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG)
Ardisia elliptica
elliptica