Download American Beautyberry Scientific Name

Common Name:
American Beautyberry
Scientific Name:
Callicarpa americana
Family: Verbenaceae
Order: Lamiales
Wetland Plant Status:
Facultative
Ecology & Description
American beautyberry (also
known as French mulberry, sourbush, bunchberry, or purple beauty-berry) is a deciduous
perennial, shade-tolerant, multi-trunked shrub with many spreading branches. It often grows 3-5
feet tall and usually just as wide, but can get up to 9 feet. The leaves are opposite, ovate to
broadly lanceolate. They are 7-17 centimeters long and 3-9 centimeters wide and are whitishwoolly hairy beneath with prominent veins. The flowers are dense auxiliary clusters that consist
of 5 lobes. Corollas are pinkish-white and on white stalks. During early fall, clusters of small
purple berries form along the stems.
Habitat
This beauty is found mostly in woods, swamps, and bottomlands. This plant is most frequent and
abundant on moist sites under open pine canopies. It persists after harvesting and site
preparation, and can become abundant in new forest plantations. It is present along forest
margins, right-of-ways, and fencerows. American beautyberry is fairly fire tolerant and is spread
by bird-dispersed seeds. The also grow easily in full sun or light. It is mostly restricted to
climates with mild winters and long, hot, humid summers. American beautyberry grows best in
clay or loamy silt but will also grow on sandy sites.
Native/Invasive Status & Distribution
American beautyberry is a native plant species in the lower 48 states. It grows from Texas to
south Florida, north to Maryland, and west to Missouri and Oklahoma.
Wildlife Uses
American beautyberry fruit is consumed by more than 40 species of songbirds, particularly the
American Robin (Turdus migratorius), Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis), Gray Catbird
(Dumetella carolinensis), Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos), Brown Thrasher
(Toxostoma rufum), Purple Finch (Haemorphous prupureus), and Eastern Towhee (Pipilo
erythrophthalmus). Although it is considered a medium preference browse species, leaves are
commonly browsed by white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and can be a major part of the
summer diet when highly preferred foods are scarce. Cattle occasionally browse on the leaves of
this plant. The fruit is also eaten by raccoon (Procyon lotor), opossum (Didelphis virginiana),
and a gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus). As for the nutritional value, American beautyberry
consists of minor amounts of vitamins and carbohydrates. It also can contain amounts of protein,
calcium, and phosphorous at certain times of the year. Recent studies indicate that beautyberry
leaves contain several very strong mosquito repellent molecules. Toxicity of these molecules
still needs to be determined before used. Some people have reported stomach upset after eating
beautyberries. On the brighter side, American beautyberry provides environmental protection
for a variety of birds and small mammals along the coastal plains of the southern United States.
Management Techniques
This plant is relatively maintenance free, but the thinning-type pruning method works best since
regular shearing removes flowers and developing fruits. When pruning, only old stems should be
trimmed because fruit only develops on new stems.
References
Miller, J. H. and K. V. Miller. 2005. Forest Plants of the Southeast and their Wildlife Uses. The
University of Georgia Press, Athens, Georgia, USA. 454 pp.
Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). 2015. PLANTS Database. Plants Data Team,
United States Department of Agriculture, Greensboro, North Carolina.
<http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=CAAM2> Accessed 3 August 2015.
Vorderbruggen, M. M. 2006. Merriwether’s Guide to Edible Wild Plants of Texas and the
Southwest. Online. <http://www.foragingtexas.com/2008/09/beautyberry.html> Accessed 3
August 2015.
This document was authored by Kaitlyn Fletcher, Department of Agricultural Sciences,
Louisiana Tech University, April 2015.