PlantFiles: American Beautyberry
Callicarpa americana

Zone 8 near Austin, TX: Not only do my resident wild birds eat these berries in winter (some years more so than others) but a small thicket of these shrubs is the perfect gathering place for them when they seek shelter. The leaves are soft enough to be gentle to birds on the move but large enough to provide excellent cover. Summer residents and Fall migrating warblers, vireos, tanagers, grosbeaks and buntings use ours for shelter every year and they sometimes pop out to show themselves at the end of branches to pose for pictures near the berries. Plant these near a water feature and you will have a dependable spot to view rare birds that are passing through your property. The berries are supposed to be good for creating fabric dye.

I purchased this shrub three years ago thru the mail. It was a stick when I planted it and growth was very slow. It didn't seem very attractive to me and I was wondering what had prompted me to purchase this plant. Last spring I moved it to a sunnier location and it produced the purple berries for the first time. I was working in the garden and noticed the birds flocking around this shrub and wondered what was up. When I took a closer look, I noticed the purple berries. I had almost tossed this plant. Very happy I didn't because watching the birds flock around this shrub was worth the wait. I was a little worried about it surviving our winter but it's flourishing.

Here's an odd one for you all.

In October of 2006, I cut some sprigs of beautyberry (Callicarpa) (with the beautiful berries, of course!) and inserted them into a little bottle with a tight neck, and put in water.

I noticed around Feb. of 2007 that one of the beautyberry sprigs had sprouted leaves....without putting out root, mind you!

Isn't that odd?? I thought maybe it was a fluke, or some kind of bionic plant, or something!

I couldn't think of another plant where I'd seen leaf come out before root.

So I tried it again this season. October 2007, I again cut twigs of beautyberry and again put the twigs into a narrow-necked bottle with water at the base. The same thing happened!!

I forgot to mention that last spring, I decided to really root that sprig, and now the sprig is a rather large bush! I guess I'll do the same this year (anyone want one of these plants? They have those gorgeous lavender/purple berries in the fall.)

I'd like to hear your thoughts about this, and whether anyone knows of other plants that put up leaf before roots when they're put as twigs into water.

This grows where it pleases on my land. It survives being mowed to the ground, often. It's attractive and tough, and the purple of the berries is stunning and seems uncapturable on film (maybe one could Photoshop a digital image to capture the true color). People sell some non-native species as ornamentals: why bother? This one is pretty impressive. I haven't tried eating the berries. I wonder whether careful selection and breeding could improve size, flavor, and yield. I can see how it could become weedy, but compared with some of the weeds I have here it's a wimp.

For some reason mine doesn't grow fast. I have had it three or four years and it is still shorter and thinner than me.

American Beautyberry Callicarpa americana is Native to Texas and other States.

If you live in my zone I would say stay away from this plant. It is a horrible weed here at my house. I have one that has taken over an 8 foot azalea. Once they get established they are really hard to kill. They also freely send seedlings all over the property. This is a very hard weed to control.

This is one of the toughest, most drought tolerant shrubs in my yard with pretty foliage and beautiful berries. I've never had any it self sow at all.

I would add that the notes above say it requires acid to neutral soil. Mine is about 10 years old and is thriving in very alkaline soil.

The internet provides differing opinions as to whether beautyberries are edible or not, and some people say that they taste bad. I've tried them and thought they were good. They are sweet and some have a mild spicey flavor. They are not juicy like a blackberry and have a pulp that reminds me of a soft, mealy apple. I don't believe that they are poisonous because they didn't seem to have any negative effect on me for having eaten them. They grow wild and plentifully here in Tampa and produce a huge number of berries. I think that they are pretty. I'll harvest a bunch this fall and try to make some beautyberry wine.

This plant is a native and I am always pulling them up out of my ditch. However, it is not quite as invasive as some of the other undesirables that grow here.

This plant is a native here, it is all over my property and grows very big and invasive. I think of it more as a weed and have been fighting to get it off my property.

I had this growing in a full sun flower bed, surrounded by periwinkles and it made a beautiful carefree color bed. By the end of April the beautyberry was about 4 feet tall and already had a load of berries and was still producing blooms. We had a good rain during the night and I found all the stalks on the plant had broken about 1 foot or so above ground. The main stem of the plant was about 1 inch diameter and semi woody, but I'm assuming the weight of the leaves and berries were too heavy for it to support once they were rained on. I'll try again by putting it in a more protected area.

Wonderful plant indigenous to North America.

The photographer of the plant said this about it, "American beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) is a good nectar and pollen plant. The fruits are not terribly popular with birds, but are occassionally eaten by mockingbirds".

This has been in the garden for about 6 months. It has set many berries. It seems to like a moderately moist area in part sun.

I have grown this species now in Pennsylvania and New England (Zone 5) and it performs beautifully. It needs a bit of extra mulch in the winter but will go over fine. It is absolutely lovely when the leaves come off and the berries are hanging on by themselves. It is an old fashioned or heirloom variety and I highly recommend it.

We bought 15 acres in the Capote Sandhills south of Seguin, Texas. It is heavily forested with sandy loam soil, and is LOADED with beautyberries!! I was delighted this summer to find a white-berried one close to the house, but my heart still belongs to the more populous magenta-berried variety. They seem to grow readily in anything from part sun to full shade, and I'm told they can be propagated by either seeds or cuttings, but that I will have more success getting other white-berried shrubs with cuttings rather than seeds. I haven't ever cut one back, but will try it in late fall and see what happens.

I am a new admirer of the American Beautyberry and so far I haven't found the place that it seems to thrive. I live in west central Ga, where we are famous for red clay. With our wet spring, my shrub has begun to drop it leaves as though it is dying. I removed it from the ground and put it back into the pot til I could determine the problem. I'm hoping that it will recover and I can relocate it later this year so I can begin to enjoy this beautiful plant. If anyone has any suggestions, I would love to hear them.

Great plant for shade. Native Texan as well. Long lived ~ one plant I have has been in the same spot for over 25 years, is now 5 feet tall and twelve feet wide.

Although I never tried growing them, as a canoe tour guide throughout the state of Florida I see them in a variety of habitats everywhere I paddle. In my experience the best tasting ones are on plants growing on or near a riverbank that provides more sun than shade with a lot of leaf litter over the soil their growing in. They're shorter but bushier and produce more berries. Since I only remove 10 to 20% of the berries on any plant I'm leaving plenty for wildlife and the plant's reproduction, thereby creating as little human impact as possible and still enjoy a breakfast of Beautyberry pancakes.

If you don't use this plant in your landscaping for any other reason plant it for the birds - they enjoy the purple berries and will reward you with their songs.

I live in north central Florida, and I like to use native plants, particularly "volunteers", in my landscaping. In that regards, Beautyberry is a positive addition to my landscaping.

This plant grows native and flourishes on my heavily wooded property in Magnolia (near Houston), Texas. In searching the Web to try and find out what it was, I found this site, and I am so glad!
I have one plant in a shaded, secluded area that is around 8 feet tall, and many other smaller plants, most of them under Oak trees. The beautiful purple berries are adding much-needed color to the landscape. Most of the plants didn't bloom well this year, and right now the leaves are yellowing and dying off, but I plan to prune as the colder temps arrive and hope to have fuller plants next year.

Beautyberry is one of the plants I have grown over the years that always gets favorable attention. I am creating a new garden now, but the 3 gal potted beautyberry I planted here in early spring is doing fantastic and is over 3' tall with a large crop of berries. These shrubs are quite tolerant of drought once established, but they are much happier in moist woodland dappled shade and sun. Mine gets morning sun and afternoon shade next to a young cypress tree, and it is very well foliaged. In fact, I need to rescue some daylilies from its shade!

I just planted one about two months ago. It had flowers on it when I got it but now just the berries. It has not grown any but it doesn't seem to be bothered by any insects either. I am hoping that it can survive our winters. Of course in Texas you never know what kind of winters we will get mild or severe.

I live on six acres in an oak hammock in Northcentral Florida, zone 8b, and beauty berry is growing everywhere on my property. It is native, and in the shade of my oak trees grows quite lanky, up to about six feet tall. Where it gets more sun, in some cleared areas, it's more attractive, and gets quite bushy, with the branches arching over. It is a quick grower and spreader, but is so attractive that I don't really mind. I prefer it to poison oak and Virginia creeper as a native plant to have everywhere. I'm constantly finding baby plants by the larger plants, but don't know yet if they are suckers or come from fallen seed.

In midsummer the small, shortlived, pale pink flowers are quite attractive, and the later purple berry clusters are outstanding--their color is quite intense. I've read that it can be severely pruned almost to the ground in late winter to encourage heavy flowers and fruiting later in the year. The plant is deciduous, and not very attractive in the winter--just a lot of bare brown branches sticking up out of the ground, so in the garden I would put it someplace where this won't seem out of place or unattractive, such as in a "naturalistic" part of the garden.

It grows naturally on the forest floor, so I would think that if you try to replicate those conditions of filtered sun, a rich, organic soil and lots of water--we average 60 inches or so of rain, but will probably get over 90 inches this year--you can grow this very attractive native plant in a garden.

This is one of my favorite shrubs. It provides interest from spring through fall; first in the spring and summer with the flowers and the pollinators it attracts, then following with beautiful clusters of purple or white berries. The white-berried plants are albino (var. alba) and are also native.

Mockingbirds will sit on the plant and eat the berries one at a time. I have also seen squirrels eat the berries. They are edible for human consumption "as is" though they don't have much flavor to them. They are delicious when made into jelly. I have had only a few volunteer plants and have not noticed them to be susceptible to any plant pests.

This shrub should be planted in amongst other plants/greenery to hide it when it it goes dormant in the winter. It can be pruned in late winter to about 6" just before the leaves start to flush out. This will make it much fuller and reduce the shrub height. They can get tall and a little leggy if left unpruned. I recommend pruning if it will be in a more formal landscape situation. Pruning will increase the flowering and fruiting as flowers occur only on the new growth.

Early Floridians, and possibly latter day ones also, made jelly from the berries. I have not done so, but have a recipe that i expect to try one of these years. But note, mockingbirds love these berries and will sow them everywhere.

American Beautyberry has done extremely well for me on a dry hill in Zone 8b Florida. It is native here, and can become a quite large shrub. The purple berries in late summer and fall are spectacular. It can self seed some.