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This species appears on the following legally prohibited plant lists

UF-IFAS Assessment of Non-Native Plants in Florida’s Natural Areas

CATEGORY I on the Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council’s (FLEPPC) 2017 List of Invasive Plant Species

FWC WEED ALERT (PDF)

Download a recognition card (PDF) from Invasive and Non-native Plants You Should Know3

Download a page (PDF) from Identification and Biology of Nonnative Plants in Florida’s Natural Areas – Second Edition1

Control information: Integrated Management of Nonnative Plants in Natural Areas of Florida (EDIS publication SP 242)4

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 2

More Resources

View the herbarium specimen image from the University of Florida Herbarium Digital Imaging Projects.

Citations

1. 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 Publication # SP 257. 2008.

2. 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.

3. Invasive and Non-native Plants You Should Know – Recognition Cards,
by A. Richard and V. Ramey. University of Florida-IFAS Publication # SP 431. 2007.

4. Integrated Management of Nonnative Plants in Natural Areas of Florida, by K. A. Langeland, J. A. Ferrell, B. Sellers, G. E. MacDonald, and R. K. Stocker. University of Florida-IFAS Publication # SP 242. 2011.

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