Florida-Friendly Plant Spotlight: Beautyberry

Article By:
Audrey Durr
Florida Yards & Neighborhoods Program Coordinator

Autumn in Florida may not have the vibrant reds, oranges and yellows of "up North," but that doesn't mean that we have to miss out on fall color altogether.

Red maples, sweetgums, crape myrtles, dogwoods, and Shumard oaks all exhibit fall color, but the most remarkable fall color for this area is the brilliant purple of beautyberries.

American beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) is a native deciduous shrub that produces small lavender flowers, followed by deep purple berries that can persist through winter. The small berries grow in densely packed groups around the stems. Over ten species of bird feed on the fruit, including cardinals, woodpeckers and mockingbirds.

Beautyberry has an open, "sprawling" growth habit, large leaves and grows four to eight feet tall. Light pruning will create a more compact shrub, however, beautyberry is not well suited to formal, severe pruning.

Beautyberry grows best in full sun to partial shade areas with acidic to slightly alkaline soils. While beautyberry prefers rich soils, it also grows in poor, sandy soils. Once this plant is established, it is very drought-tolerant as well as relatively maintenance-free. It has no pests of major concern, although caterpillars may occasionally chew the leaves.

Beautyberry's best feature is that the leaves can be crushed and rubbed on the skin as a repellant against mosquitoes and some species of ticks. This common Southern folk remedy dating to the early 1900s has been given scientific credence by the USDA Agricultural Research Service. Beautyberry contains a compound called callicarpenal, which rivals chemicals such as DEET in effectiveness. While the USDA reports no human toxicity associated with the leaves or berries, it is highly recommended that a small patch of skin be tested first for an allergic reaction.

Visit the Florida-Friendly Learning Landscape (located behind the Citrus County UF/IFAS Extension at 3650 W. Sovereign Path, Lecanto) to see beautyberry specimens. The Learning Landscape is open seven days a week from sunrise to sunset and contains numerous labeled plant species (trees, shrubs and groundcovers), an operational irrigation display, a mulch display and other exhibits. At each of the nine stations, you can collect a tip card that explains how to apply that principle of Florida-Friendly Landscaping in your own yard.

The Florida-Friendly Plant Database at www.FloridaYards.org can provide you with more information on Florida-friendly plants. By answering a few simple questions about your yard (light exposure, soil moisture, etc.), the interactive plant database will generate a list of Florida-friendly plants that should thrive in your yard.

For more information on Florida-friendly landscaping, visit the University of Florida's website www.solutionsforyourlife.org or contact the Florida Yards & Neighborhoods (FYN) program staff at your local Extension Office.

The Florida Yards & Neighborhoods Program of the Citrus County Extension Service is a public education and outreach program of the University of Florida, funded jointly by the Citrus County Board of County Commissioners and the Coastal Rivers and Withlacoochee River Basin Boards of the Southwest Florida Water Management District.

All programs and related activities sponsored for, or assisted by, the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences are open to all persons with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions, or affiliations.

For persons with disabilities requiring special accommodations, please contact our office at least five working days prior to the program so that proper consideration may be given to the request. For hearing impaired, please contact the Florida Relay Center at 1-800-955-8770 (voice) or 1-800 –955-8771 (TDD).

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