Callicarpa (Beauty Berry)

Deciduous and evergreen shrubs and small trees occurring in tropical regions around the world as well as more temperate regions of east Asia and North American, the 140 or so Callicarpa species can be untidy in growth but appealing in flower and especially in fruit. As their common name indicates, beauty-berries are grown for their colorful fruit rather than for flowers or foliage. The inconspicuous white or pink blossoms are hidden beneath 2- to 4-inch leaves in midsummer, but are followed in the fall by tiny berries that are borne in clusters along the stems. The berries last two or three weeks after the leaves fall. Beauty-berries may grow 6 to 10 feet tall in mild climates but the stems are apt to die to the ground during cold winters. Even in warm regions the stems are normally pruned each year; as a result, the maximum height of these shrubs is usually about 3 feet. Since these shrubs bear berries on the current season's growth, a full crop of fruit can be expected each year. Beauty-berries are most effective when they are planted in groups at the front of a shrub border. An advantage of having several plants close together is that there is better cross-pollination of flowers, resulting in larger crops of berries.