Ardisia obovata

Desv. ex Ham.

Guadeloupe marlberry, Mameyuelo

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(c) Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Department of Botany, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA)

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What to Eat

Edible parts: Fruit

The fruit are eaten.

Where to Find It

A tropical plant.

Asia, Bahamas, Central America, Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, Haiti*, Indochina, Lesser Antilles, Malaysia, North America, Puerto Rico, SE Asia, USA, Virgin Islands, West Indies*,

Countries: United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, Antigua & Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Barbados, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Brunei, Bahamas, Bhutan, Belize, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Georgia, Guatemala, Honduras, Haiti, Indonesia, Israel, India, Iraq, Iran, Jamaica, Jordan, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Cambodia, St Kitts & Nevis, North Korea, South Korea, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Laos, Lebanon, St Lucia, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Mongolia, Maldives, Mexico, Malaysia, Nicaragua, Nepal, Oman, Panama, Philippines, Pakistan, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, El Salvador, Syria, Thailand, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Trinidad & Tobago, Taiwan, United States, Uzbekistan, St Vincent, Vietnam, Yemen

How to Identify

A small tree. The leaves are dark green and drooping. The fruit are produced in large numbers. They are green but turn pink, red then dark purple.

How to Grow

Plants are grown by seeds.

Other Uses

The heartwood is light reddish brown; the sapwood pinkish. The wood is hard and heavy. It is only used for posts.

Notes

There are about 250-300 Ardisia species. They are mainly in the tropics. Also put in the family Myrsinaceae.

Names & Synonyms

Ardisia hamiltonii A. DC.Ardisia maculata Poit. ex A. DC.Icacorea guadalupensis (Duchass. ex Griseb.) Britton ex P. WilsonTinus obovata (Desv. ex Ham.) Kuntze

References (3)

http://www.tradewindsfruit.com/guadeloupe_marlberry.htm
Plants of Haiti Smithsonian Institute http://botany.si.edu/antilles/West Indies
Reis, S. V. and Lipp, F. L., 1982, New Plant Sources for Drugs and Foods from the New York Botanical Garden herbarium. Harvard. p 231