Myrsinaceae — Myrsine Family
This species is a multi-stemmed shrub up to 6 feet tall, but usually shorter. The leaves are alternate, elliptic, evergreen, glossy, up to about 8 inch long, and have conspicuously crenate (scalloped) margins with nodules in the crenations. The flowers grow in the axils of the leaves in dense, drooping, rounded clusters and have small white or pale pink petals. The attractive fruits are bright red when ripe, round, about 1/3 inch in diameter, in dense drooping clusters, persisting through the winter. Individual plants with white or pink fruits are sometimes encountered.
Coral ardisia is native to temperate and tropical Asia, from Japan to northern India, but has been widely introduced in other areas as an ornamental and has become naturalized in Alabama, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana and Texas as well as Florida.
In Florida, the shrub is usually found in rich and moist, often dense woods in the central and eastern Panhandle, from Holmes County to Jefferson County and in the peninsula in scattered counties from Duval south to Lee and Palm Beach counties.
Five other species of Ardisia occur in Florida, but only coral ardisia has leaves with undulate crenate margins and red (occasionally white or pink) fruit.
The brightly colored, fleshy fruits are attractive to birds. They spread the abundant seeds after eating the berries.
This highly ornamental species has escaped from cultivation and is now thoroughly naturalized. Dense stands of coral ardisia that carpet forest understories shade out seedlings of native ground covers and thereby alter native plant communities and forest regeneration processes. It is listed by the Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council (FLEPPC) as a Category I invasive. This species produces a heavy crop of fruit with seeds that remain viable over several months on the plant and germinate at a rate of 84 to 98 percent in a range of soil types. In addition, this species spreads by resprouting after fire or stem damage. A large underground storage stem makes removing the plant difficult and helps the plant resprout.