I feel pretty sure that this plant is a beautyberry (callicarpa) plant. But I'm not sure what species. From what I've been able to look up so far, there are several different species that are used in gardens and landscaping. I'd like to know which one this is!

This photo was taken Oct 30. Since then some of the berries have started shriveling on the plant but today there were still many plump berries on the plant. I can take additional photos or inspect the plant or briefly taste the berries if that would be helpful for ID.

I looked around online for a while and found lots of photos of different species and cultivars, but I didn't find a definitive guide for distinguishing the different kinds.

Likely the native American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana)

how to tell the different kinds apart?

We have many Callicarpa species listed in our database that are found in different parts of the world: https://garden.org/plants/brow... but I'm not sure what the differences are between the different species. The only one I'm familiar with is the C. americana which is a native here in the U.S. and found in many parts of the southern and southeastern parts of the country as shown on this map: https://plants.usda.gov/core/p...

Hopefully others will recognize your plant and be able to confirm which one is in your photo.

Thank you! Yes I looked at all the photos here and they were very helpful, but I would really like to find someone who can confirm for me what kind they are if possible. I have very little experience identifying plants and I have no experience with beautyberries.

I would love for them to be native, because that would mean I could feel good about propagating them and sharing the berries with friends so they could grow their own native plants too. But that would be a horrible idea if they're one of the non-native ones! Although it may be iffy to share anyway if it's "native" but from someplace relatively far away via a nursery yard planting. I don't know how this particular plant ended up in this particular garden bed. I know there are a few native nurseries around here that collect seed from nearby wilderness areas so I might do better to look into getting plants from there if I really want something native to this area. Heck I guess I could do my own wilderness seed collecting if I really want to.

My other reason for concern is that I want to eat them, but I'm not sure if they're safe to eat. From what I've seen so far American Beautyberry is somewhat edible, but the other kinds are not.

"Somewhat" edible?

I know they are edible to birds but I'm not sure about human consumption.

"Somewhat" edible?

What I found so far (and this might not be right since I haven't looked thoroughly) indicated that the American species berries are edible raw but you shouldn't eat too many at a time, and that some people experience digestive discomfort after eating them. They are described as "astringent" but "palatably sweet" according to one source.

People say you can boil them and make a jelly or syrup out of the juice which is what I was thinking of doing if this is the right species.

So I rounded that to "somewhat" edible.

Berries are edible according to this very interesting article.
See..
https://www.sarcraft.com/news/....

www.sarcraft.com said:Beautyberry is indeed edible, and is even tasty when cooked properly. Berries can be eaten raw, although they have a bland, mealy, astringent flavor. They are much better made into a jam, jelly, sauce, or wine. Cooking breaks down some of the tannins in the seeds and skins and allows the pleasant, fruity flavor to shine through.

Interesting article, thank you. The recipe I saw said to boil them to make a jelly but I hadn't seen an explanation of what the cooking actually does to make them more edible.

Hi plantsquestions20:

I should have a cut/paste easy way to begin nearly all my Plant ID Forum posts:

SHOW US MORE PICTURES

I think that you have a Callicarpa americana plant there (as previously noted), but you have only provided one image. Especially since you intend to consume parts of this plant, you should provide all the possible information that you can to those here who wish to help.

It appears your plant has had some severe pruning recently. That also doesn't make it easy to identify, since it doesn't display its normal habit.

Good diagnostic images of each of the plant's parts will help reviewers compare the difference between your plant and other similar species. Individual leaves (with something in the image for scale, or provide measurements); the buds and their arrangement along the stem; flowers; the fruit (again with scale or dimensions); the stems or trunks; and overall habit/form of the plant.

Obviously, the plant will not have flowers now - but you may have previously taken pictures and could provide them. You may have done this pruning, but have pictures preceeding that effort. We don't know any of this; you have to tell us.

I believe this is an American Beautyberry for several reasons. Those are relatively large leaves. Those are relatively large and dense clusters of fruit. Those are large clubby stems/trunks. Having seen many species of Callicarpa in eastern North America, and grown several here at the Valley, this puts my opinion of your plant squarely in Callicarpa americana territory.

I do NOT have lots of exposure to TX gardens and landscapes, and cannot offer a comparison in your growing conditions. I would expect the species that appreciate southern heat and longer growing seasons to do better, and species that would rather have cooler summers and higher rainfall to do more poorly.

Here are some Beautyberries I've known at the Valley.

Callicarpa americana


Callicarpa dichotoma


Here are some nice plants from places I've been.

Thank you your reply is very helpful! Especially the suggestions for what to photograph. I was hoping to try taking some more photos soon and having an idea of what to photograph is helpful.

I can't tell you how definitively tell them apart, but if it was wild-collected or bird gifted then it is surely Callicarpa americana. There are only three species recorded in the wild in The United States and only C. americana is recorded growing wild in Texas.

Took a few more pictures today and tasted the berries, maybe this will be helpful for identification.

Unfortunately I wasn't the one who pruned this plant earlier and I don't know what it looked like before pruning. I don't have earlier pictures from other seasons or with flowers, etc. I don't know if it was planted on purpose in the landscape from a nursery or if it was a volunteer gift from birds or other wild animals.

I crushed the berries and smelled them. They had no scent to me. I tasted a berry and spit it out. It had a mealy texture and almost no taste to me. The immediate aftertaste was slightly unpleasant, maybe a bit bitter or some unpleasant taste I'm not familiar with, and also maybe slightly sweet. Any taste was very faint and hard for me to make out.

These photos were all taken earlier today. The triangle ruler tool I used for scale is about 8 inches on the two shorter sides.

plant overall:



leaves:





berries:

Maybe this one or this one?