Beautyberry, Callicarpa americana, also known a French-mulberry,
is and attractive native shrub that has lavender colored flowers followed by
lavender colored berries that are in clusters along the stem located axillary
to the opposite leaves.These berries
are not toxic, but do not have enough of a flavor to be considered eat-able as opposed to eatable,
therefore, most people don’t know either way resulting in calls to the poison
control center each year when a toddler has eaten handfuls of the pretty
berries. There are even cultivars with
white berries for anybody that has a white themed garden.Birds favor the berries intermediately;
therefore, they persist randomly depending on availability of preferred foods.
