Coral Ardisia: Identifying Characteristics
Habitat:
Coral ardisia prefers moist soils in the shady forest understory. It is most often found in hardwood hammocks, but it can invade other ecosystems as well. In Florida it is found in the coastal counties of the mid-penninsula, in Alachua and Marion counties in the north penninsula, and in a handful of panhandle counties around Tallahassee.
Size/Form:
It is an evergreen subshrub ususally growing around 2ft high, although in very rare circumstances it can get up to 6ft high. There is usually a single upright stalk with branches that spread out evenly around the upper half.
Stem:
Generally one brown, thin, upright stem, although the plant often responds to cutting by producing multiple new stems.
Twigs:
Thin, green, and waxy, sometimes making the leaves look compound instead of simple.
Leaves:
Simple, alternate, elliptic, dark green, and about 6" long, with distinctive crenate margins that look as if they were cut out with fingernails.
Flowers:
Small white flowers with yellow anthers in the middle.
Fruit:
Bright red, spherical drupes about 8mm in diameter, growing in clusters held out from the main stem. On some less-common cultivars, the drupes can be white. The fruit generally appear in the winter and persist year-round.