Skip to main content

Shoebutton ardisia (Ardisia elliptica)

Lempeni or duck's eye or coralberry or shoebutton ardisia (Ardisia elliptica) are shrub species in Primulaceae, grow in tropical climates, survive under the shade of large trees in dense forests, strong single roots and produce sweet fruit.

A. elliptica can grow up to 5 meters high, a single stem and stands upright with many short branches, has oval shaped leaves, elongated, rather thick, smooth texture, shiny, pink when young and will turn dark green when old.

Dlium Shoebutton ardisia (Ardisia elliptica) @Dlium #Dlium

Flowers appear on leaf axils, umbrella-shaped with reddish purple crowns and white petals to pink. Lempeni produces round and clustered fruits, which are green when young and turn red, purple and black when old.

Ripe fruit emits purple ink when broken, about 5-6 mm. Seeds are round and 5 mm in diameter. Ripe fruit is preferred for consumption for sweetness. The leaves are antiplatelet, are antibacterial and contain many antioxidants.

Ardisia solanacea and Ardisia humilis are considered the same species as Ardisia elliptica by some experts. Individuals reach reproductive maturity in 2-4 years in the wild and 1-2 years in cultivation. Mature plants in the forest with lots of sun can produce 400 fruits.

Seeds do not require dormancy. Seedlings and shoots can live in very shady places for years. With a little sunlight, young plants quickly develop into adults and reproduce. The fruit is favored by birds and mammals so it is very quickly spread throughout the landscape.



Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Ericales
Family: Primulaceae
Genus: Ardisia
Species: A. elliptica

Popular Posts

Yellow garden spider (Argiope appensa)

Yellow garden spider ( Argiope appensa ) is a species of spider in Araneidae that lives on the coast to forests on islands in the western Pacific Ocean. Black and yellow females are striking and have a length of 5.1-6.4 cm including long legs, while males are brown and have a length of about 1.9 cm. A. appensa lives on cliffs in the hills at 600 m above sea level in Kewu plain to rice fields in the lowlands. They make nests at a height of 1.5 meters from the ground between teak ( Tectona grandis ), sonokeling ( Dalbergia latifolia ), sonosiso ( Dalbergia sissoo ), crown flower ( Calotropis gigantea ) and various grasses. Yellow garden spiders grow in large sizes, but are not toxic to humans. Advanced builds ball-shaped nets and most of them make stabilizers which are zigzag-shaped lines in nets made of thicker bands. This species spends more time in stationary and sits in the middle of the net with its head down to wait for insects to be entangled in fine silk thread. Unli...

Skyflower (Duranta erecta)

Sinyo nakal or skyflower ( Duranta erecta ) is plant species in Verbenaceae, a broad shrub or small tree, up to 6 m high, stems growing upright or horizontally with broad clumps, many branches, bark light brown, old tree has axillary spines and grows to form dense colonies. D. erecta has bright green leaves, elliptical to ovoid, pointed or rounded ends, sitting opposite, 7.5 cm long, 3.5 cm wide, a main vein in the middle with several small lateral veins, petiole long 1.5 cm. Flowers are light blue or lavender or white, appear in tight clusters as on terminal stems and axils, often curled or pendulous, blooms in summer. The fruit is a berry having a stalk, small round, yellow or orange or white in color, up to 11 mm in diameter, an eye green in front and containing several seeds. Skyflower grows in dry or humid areas and lots of sun, rocky or sandy beaches, forests, farmland and disturbed places. Plants will grow at a rate of up to half a meter per year. Kingdom: Plantae Phylum:...

Big-leaved acacia (Acacia mangium)

Big-leaved acacia ( Acacia mangium ) is a species of woody plants in the Acacieae, long oval leaves, growing up to 30 m and straight stems, except in less favorable places will grow only 7-10 m, have hardwood, rough, longitudinal grooved and dark to light brown. A. mangium has shoots with compound leaves consisting of many minor leaves and after growing a few weeks does not produce any more real leaves but the main axis of the petiole of each compound leaves widens and turns into known pohyllocladus or pseudo leaves. Big-leaved acacia has about 142,000 seeds/kg. Long pods form circular threads and are black or brown when ripe. Dry pods will open to expose small black seeds. Trees bind nitrogen to the soil and are a popular species for agroforestry projects. This plant is weather resistant, although it requires special care if it is planted as a garden plant where the leaves are falling a lot. These plants include legumes that grow quickly by increasing height 4 m per year near ...