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I can't find it right now, but the leaves of the american beautyberry are made into a mosquito repellant. I made a copy of the page, just have to find it. http://hort.ufl.edu/shrubs/CALAMEA.PDF
Aaah, I'm a zone too cold for the American beautyberry, but I have friends in zone 7 that may benefit from planting a shrub or two. If you find the info on mosquito repellent from the leaves, please post it (link or page scan) if you can!
Wormfood, It looks like purple beautyberry will work in my zone, and it IS a real beauty! Not only do the leaves repel skeeters and ticks, it's deer resistant, too!! That's a big bonus in my neighborhood. I'll check the vendors for the purple variety!
Wormfood, I found those articles after researching your initial post, too. I don't think making homemade mosquito repellent creams or lotions from the beautyberry shrubs would be wise at this point, until more testing of the toxicity to humans is done, but crumbling the leaves and wiping the skin sounds harmless and useful to me!
ya, I havent done it yet. I want to try it in the chicken coop and maybe just throw some leaves around in my bird/greenhouse. I've got a pond and a fishtank in there and the drip hose especially attracts the mosquitos. Your welcome for the info but I thank you for reminding me. nancy
Nice to meet you Nancy! Spreading the leaves around troublesome areas is a good idea! I tried using garlic cloves in an open rain barrel once and it worked for a week or two. I didn't have sufficient garlic to keep placing them often enough to be affective the entire summer.
