American beauty berry bush

Species of flowering plant

Callicarpa americana, commonly called the American beautyberry, is an open-habitat, nativeshrub of the Southern United States which is often grown as an ornamental in gardens and yards.

American beautyberries produce large clusters of purple berries, which birds and deer eat, thus distributing the seeds.

Uses

The raw berries, while palatably sweet, are suitable for human consumption only in small amounts, because they are astringent.

American beauty berry bush

Some people have reported mild stomach cramps after consumption. The berries are also used in jellies and wine. The roots are used to make herbal tea. As a folk remedy it has been claimed that "fresh, crushed leaves of American beautyberry, Callicarpa americana ...

helped keep biting insects away from animals such as horses and mules".^[2] A chemical compound isolated from the plant, callicarpenal, was effective as a mosquito repellent in a laboratory experiment using a simulated