The natural world isn’t beholden to our lines of logic. As the question (and popular meme) “If not friend, why friend-shaped?” reminds us, plants and animals don’t always act—or taste, for that matter—the way they look. Tragically, you can’t pet everything soft. And sadly, you can’t eat everything that looks delicious.
But, as evidenced by the magenta beautyberries lately seen adorning yards and the edges of forests around Texas, sometimes you can. The American beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) is aptly named. Its purple berry clusters are bright and nearly metallic, and they stand out against Texas’s otherwise drab fall landscapes—awash in dead grass and crunchy leaves—making them easy to spot. The shrubs look almost fake, like artificial decorative plants you could buy at a craft store. Maybe in part because of their glossy appearance, the berries are often mistakenly assumed to be poisonous. But beautyberries have long provided more than something to look at for the people (and birds) who seek them out.
Historically, Native American tribes utilized the fruits, which grow across the southeastern United States, by boiling and drinking them to treat colic. They also used the roots, boiled as well, to treat dizziness and calm upset stomachs. Later on, farmers also found a use for beautyberries, crushing their leaves and wedging them under the harnesses of horses to help repel mosquitoes and other bugs. Despite the plant’s long history as a folk remedy, only in the last twenty years have scientists successfully identified three different insect-repellent chemicals present in the beautyberry. One of the chemicals, called callicarpenal, was found to be only about 20 percent less effective than DEET. “Traditional folklore remedies many times are found to lead nowhere following scientific research,” Charles Cantrell, a chemist with the United States Department of Agriculture Research, previously said. “The beautyberry plant and its ability to repel mosquitoes is an exception.”
In addition to using the plants for these practical applications, modern-day foragers have found a handful of ways to prepare and enjoy the berries, which have a floral but slightly bitter flavor. Most commonly, they’re smashed and boiled into a jam or jelly that reportedly tastes like rose petals or elderberries. Less commonly, and more creatively, online recipes call for the berries blended into a smoothie, arranged on top of a lemon cake, and even stirred into a quinoa pilaf. The ambitious have used them to concoct homemade wines, which surprisingly retain some of that bright color.
Because of the plants’ insect-repellent properties, the shrubs are generally safe from pests, giving them plenty of opportunity to draw in the creatures that seem to most appreciate their fruit: birds. More than forty different species of songbirds rely on the beautyberry as a source of food, including our state bird. “The northern mockingbird is a big fan of beautyberry, often guarding it from other birds,” said Jane Tillman, a volunteer in Austin with the Native Plant Society of Texas. “Other birds that have been seen getting berries in Central Texas are northern cardinals, summer tanagers, Baltimore orioles, orange-crowned warblers, and cedar waxwings—if there are any berries left by the time they get here in the winter. I have noticed, however, that sometimes the berries seem to be untouched, and I don’t get what is going on there.” This could be because of the bitter taste, which may lead animals to wait until other food sources are depleted before they turn to beautyberries. Tillman said she’s also seen birds diving under beautyberry plants and using the big, arching shrubs for shelter or as safe spaces to dig through leaf litter in search of insects and spiders. And birds aren’t the only animals known to be tempted by the hanging purple clusters. Foxes, possums, raccoons, squirrels, and deer will all snack on the berries from time to time. Even Texas’s beloved armadillo can’t seem to resist.
I didn’t know the lore of the berries before I passed some in a yard in my neighborhood during a walk. In fact, I imagine they caught my eye in nearly the same way they do that of the mockingbird. “Ooh, pretty,” I thought. In describing the beautyberry, Andrea DeLong-Amaya, the director of horticulture at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, noted its impressive size. Standing before the looming shrub in my neighborhood as it swayed in the wind, I could see what she meant. “They typically grow five or six feet tall and equally wide, or sometimes larger, filling understory spaces nicely. Their elegant arching form is a bonus, so cutting them back isn’t recommended,” she said, warning that gardeners eager to plant beautyberries of their very own should ensure they have enough space. I took pictures, poked around a little, and went on my way.
It wasn’t until the following day (after the internet had taught me) that I found myself drawn to return to the same plant. This time to taste.
DeLong-Amaya describes the berries as tasting “slightly sweet, but on the bland side.” Most commonly, though, their taste is less generously referred to as astringent. I’d be lying if I said I tasted anything but a sharp, bite-y, well, plant flavor, not unlike chewing on a blade of grass—bitter but inoffensive. I see why putting them on a lemon cake might be the way to go.
If you’re newly acquainted with beautyberries, there’s still plenty of time to enjoy them this year. The plants fruit in early fall, and their berries can stay ripe into midwinter—provided hungry animals don’t eat the branches clean. If you’re considering planting a beautyberry in your own yard, know that the plants do best in bottomland soils, although clay is fine too. Their native range is the eastern half of Texas, but with a little help from irrigation, they can thrive farther west as well. The species has done more than enough to prove its value, but DeLong-Amaya notes fondly that the berries make for beautiful touches in a flower bouquet. “They mix spectacularly with flowers of goldenrod, fragrant mistflower, and gayfeather. If you strip the leaves away to better reveal the berries, you’ll notice the fresh, tangy aroma of the foliage, which makes a lasting memory of fall.”
