Kauaʻi record · kba_plant_ardisia_solanacea
Shoebutton Ardisia
Ardisia solanacea
Open this record in the interactive AtlasKauaʻi evidence
Taxonomic identity, tree form, diagnostic morphology and island occurrence use the linked reviewed sources. Historical planting, cultivation, naturalization and invasive status are separate. Generated imagery is not occurrence evidence.
Names and classification
- Scientific name
- Ardisia solanacea
- Common names
- Shoebutton Ardisia
- Other names
- Ardisia solanacea · Shoebutton ardisia · Anguillaria solanacea · Ardisia elliptica var. solanacea · Bladhia solanacea
- Record type
- Species
Kauaʻi occurrence and status
- Kauaʻi occurrence
- Recorded on Kauaʻi
- Origin
- Introduced
- Conservation status
- Not yet assessed
- Evidence date
- 2026-10-06
- Evidence limits
- The current taxonomic application of the ledger’s source-era Ardisia humilis/Ardisia solanacea labeling is uncertain. Current survival on Kauaʻi, number of trees, occupied habitat, flowering or fruiting, recruitment, population trend, and ecological effects are all unconfirmed; no naturalization or invasive severity is inferred from the historical planting record.
Habitat and ecology
- Habitats
- Not yet assessed
- Food and resource needs
- Not yet assessed
- Reproduction
- Small bisexual flowers mature into single-seeded fleshy drupes. Animal dispersal is plausible from fruit form, but Kauaʻi pollinators, dispersers, seed viability, and recruitment are unconfirmed.
- Shelter
- Not yet assessed
- Growth form
- Shrub or small tree
Threats and conservation
- Monitoring
- Not yet assessed
- Data gaps
- Current population extent and trajectory · Additional species-specific ecological and conservation sources
Process and seasonal context
- Seasonal timing
- Not yet assessed
- Seasonal description
- Shoebutton Ardisia (Ardisia solanacea) is a post-contact introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi through historical forestry planting records. The reviewed records do not establish present survival. Native across the Indian subcontinent to southern China and parts of Southeast Asia, in moist forest and shrubland. A 1980 forestry ledger includes a 1928 Kauaʻi planting under source-era Ardisia humilis/Ardisia solanacea nomenclature. Current Kew treats A. humilis separately; that historical label is retained as provenance rather than a current synonym. The planting record does not establish survival or reproduction today.
Sources and further reading
- https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:18339-2
- https://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200016807
- https://research.fs.usda.gov/download/treesearch/47617.pdf
- https://efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200016807
- https://efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=5&taxon_id=200016807