Cloudbridge Nature Reserve

Trees of Cloudbridge

Ardisia compresa tree Ardisia compressa (Turiuco) (Preliminary identification)

Description: Shrub, 2-6 meters height. Sometimes found in tree form.

Natural history:

Distribution: Found in humid tropical cloud forests, and dry forests, and disturbed areas, in a variety of locations and altitudes in Costa Rica -- even Cocos Island. Also found from Mexico to Venezuela. On Cloudbridge, found alongside Amanzimtoti trail (preliminary identification).  

How to recognize: Large oval leaves are green on top, purplish on bottom. Little white flowers and red berries may be seen at any time of year.

Uses: In a study at the University of Illinois led by Dr. Elvira de Mejia, an aqueous extract of the leaves has been shown to inhibit cancer of the liver in rats. People of Mexico's Pacific coast have long used a tea made from the leaves for medicinal purposes, including combating cancer.

Sources and Links:
La Flora Digital de La Selva
INBio description
Area Conservacion Guanacaste description
Medicinal properties

Scientific Information:
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida (Dicots)
Order: Ericales
Family: Myrsinaceae (Myrsine family)
Species: Ardisia compressa 


Photo Identification Guide: Ardisia compressa (Turiuco) (Preliminary identification)
Leaves. Leaves are simple (undivided), alternate, widest at middle, narrowing to a point at each end. Veins are pinnate. Margins (leaf edges) are smooth. Leaves are glabrous and leathery with yellow translucent dots or streaks.
Photo: Ian Giddy (preliminary identification)
Ardisia compresa leavesArdisia compresa leaves
Flowers. Flowers have white petals with yellow centers, clustered in panicules. Flowers throughout the year.
Photo:
La Flora Digital de La Selva
Ardisia compressa flowers
Fruit and Seeds. Fruits green, turning red and then dark red/black when ripe. Fruit appears throughout the year.
Photo: La Flora Digital de La Selva
Ardisia compressa fruit
Trunk. The trunk is smooth.
Form. The shape of the tree found on Cloudbridge is a multi-trunked shrub.

Saplings.

Other


Notes/Notas:
Shrub, much
branching, panicules of flowers;
white same with immature red fruit
(black when ripe) -berries.

Flores con pétalos
rosados y estambres amarillos. Botones
floreales rosados. Eje de la

Flores rosadas. Frutos
inmaduros verdes, maduros morados.
inflorescencia rojizo.
Árboles o arbustos de 1 a 7 m de altura, tallos glabros, glabrados o inconspícuamente furfuráceos. Hojas de 3 a 12.5 cm de largo por 1.4 a 6 cm de ancho, elípticas, de oblongo-lanceoladas a obovadas, agudas o abruptamente acuminadas, cuneadas o atenuadas basalmente, lepidotas o glabradas, pecioladas, enteras, de subenteras a crenuladas. Inflorescencias glabras, glabradas o rara vez inconspícuamente furfuráceas, terminales, tripinnadas. Pedicelos de 3 a 5 y hasta 7 mm de largo. Sépalos de 1 a 1.5 mm de largo. Pétalos blancos, de crema a rosados, de aproximadamente 4 a 5 mm de largo. Anteras de 3 a 4 mm de largo. Estilo de 4 a 5 mm de largo. Frutos de rojo-morado a negro. La estructura de la inflorescencia es muy variable, pero la morfología floral es prácticamente invariable. A pesar de que Pipoly y Ricketson (1999) reconocen en su tratamiento de la Flora de Nicaragua a Ardisia costaricensis & Ardisia compressa como dos especies distintas, sus diferencias se traslapan en las poblaciones de Costa Rica. Por otro lado, los especímenes identificados hasta ahora como A. guianensis en el país, no presentan suficientes caracteres diferenciantes para ser reconocidas como especie. (INBio)


Cloudbridge: Bridging a Costa Rican cloud forest
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Copyright ©2005 Ian Giddy. All rights reserved. Last updated 8 January 2005