PlantFiles: Purple Beautyberry
Callicarpa dichotoma

I have just spent the last two years managing a native plant nursery in Florida and learning a great deal about all sorts of species. According to one of my professors, American Beauty Berry conatins a mild hallucinogen, so those considering cooking with it might want to reconsider or at least investigate before doing so. I had eaten a small handful of the berries one day, and while I can't correlate the two with 100% certainty, I did experience some stomach problems a few hours later.
On another note, this species is also available in white berries, though I have not seen these to the extent that I have the purple ones.

Quoted from Edward F. Gilman's University of Florida Fact Sheet On Callicarpa dichotoma:

"Perhaps the most beautiful Beautyberry, this species of
Callicarpa has smaller leaves than either the more common
American Beautyberry or Japanese Beautyberry.
Leaves are produced closer together on the stem forming a
smaller, more compact shrub. Like other Beautyberries, purple berries are produced in abundance in late summer and fall and persist on the plant after leaves have fallen. Berries appear consistently each year. The shrub forms the same cascading or weeping effect so common on other Beautyberries.

USDA hardiness zones: 5B through 8
Planting month for zone 7: year round
Planting month for zone 8: year round
Origin: not native to North America"

the peaple who write of this plant in florida south of zone 8 are probobly talking about callicarpa americana(the american beautyberry)not the purple beautyberry (callicarpa dichotoma)
the american beautyberry grows USDA zone 7-11
the purple beautyberry grows USDA zone 5-8
they look just the same

This bush grows wild all around here. It is also at a park nearby and that is where I get my seeds. After I finally became aware of it, I realize just how prolific it really is. I even have one growing by the road just outside my subdivision. I am trying these from seed and hope that it works out. I know it will thrive on neglect and still set pretty berries. I tried some and they dont have much taste but I bet it would make a yummy pancake syrup! I understand Mockingbirds eat the berries and that is fine as I have a few in my backyard that nest every year.
I really like this bush, so pretty!

I thought this was a weed!!!!!!!!!! How funny! It's growing wild on our 5 acres in dappled shade in Magnolia, TX

The purple is var. "Issai". The white is our native "Americana". See
[HYPERLINK@www.sfrc.ufl.edu]
These were being given out free at Winterthur's recent Garden Fair, so I'm going to try a few. I've seen an absolutely breathtaking hedge of them a few blocks away.

First time I'd ever seen this plant. Spotted it on my morning walk past a neighbor's house that's been empty for about a year now. In light of that fact, seems to me to be a good one for xeriscaping as the owner has not been there to water regularly. The plant I saw is in an area that is mostly sunny.

The length of the branches of this plant are covered in clusters of strikingly beautiful purple berries. I'm 5'5" & am sure the plant is taller than I as I stood next to it & broke off a branch to root. Also saving some of the seeds to try to propagate.

Have not seen any "blooms" on this except for the berrries. Makes me wonder if some have flowers & others have seeds or what. No matter - awesome plant either way.

This plant is native to my six acres in Northcentral Florida, zone 8b, and you can't walk anywhere on the property without seeing huge thickets of it. In early August it is just blooming under the shade of old live oaks--the small flowers are a pretty dusty pink--and it happily competes with groundcover vines like Virginia creeper, poison oak and trumpet creeper. It spreads rapidly by self sowing. We average 60 inches of rain a year, which may explain why it grows so well here.

My book on Florida native plants says to prune it severely almost to the ground in the garden in late winter which will then give vigorous young growth that blooms and fruits heavily. It also says it is deciduous in its Northern range, like here, but evergreen further to the South. It will grow under a wide variety of conditions and the flowers are attractive to butterflies, and some birds will eat the berries. There is a white form, with white flowers and berries, but the white berries discolor as they age. I think the purple berries are spectacular looking!

Thriving in a SW exposure that many other plants can not tolerate. Grows in an attractive shape that needs no pruning.

Purple Beautybush is grown (and known) mainly for its purple fruit that has an unusual iridescent sheen, sometimes described as "neon" or "metallic" in plant descriptions. The fruit is very attractive to birds. May die back to the ground in colder climates.