{"title":"The Callicarpa Collection","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eWe have a small \u003cstrong\u003eCallicarpa collection\u003c\/strong\u003e beyond the beautiful, native beautyberry. The white-fruited form, \u003cem\u003eCallicarpa dichotoma 'Albifructus'\u003c\/em\u003e, sets translucent pearl-white berries against finer-textured foliage. \u003cem\u003eCallicarpa acuminata\u003c\/em\u003e, the Mexican beautyberry, ripens to \u003cstrong\u003edark purple-black\u003c\/strong\u003e rather than magenta, with a quieter, more mysterious presence in the autumn garden. All uncommon in the U.S. trade and only restocked every few seasons.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"callicarpa-americana","title":"Callicarpa americana","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"standard-markdown grid-cols-1 grid [\u0026amp;_\u0026gt;_*]:min-w-0 gap-3\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\"\u003eThe genus name says it: \u003cem\u003eCallicarpa\u003c\/em\u003e — from the Greek \u003cem\u003ekallos\u003c\/em\u003e, beauty, and \u003cem\u003ekarpos\u003c\/em\u003e, fruit — \"beautiful fruit.\" A genus named for exactly what it does. \u003cem\u003eCallicarpa americana\u003c\/em\u003e, the American beautyberry, is the southeastern native that gives the genus its calling card. From late August into November, the plant sets dense clusters of small drupes in a luminous magenta-purple — a color that registers as almost unreal in the late-summer landscape, somewhere between fuchsia and amethyst, with no real precedent among other native fruits. The berries arrange themselves in tight whorls around the stem at every leaf node, all the way down the arching branches, so that a mature plant in October looks less like a shrub bearing fruit and more like a ribbon of purple glass beads strung along its own architecture.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"standard-markdown grid-cols-1 grid [\u0026amp;_\u0026gt;_*]:min-w-0 gap-3\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\"\u003eThe species ranges across the southeastern coastal plain and Piedmont, west into Texas and northern Mexico, with outlier populations in Bermuda, the Bahamas, and Cuba. In the wild it grows along forest edges, in pine flatwoods, on old-field margins, and in the dappled understory of mixed hardwood-pine canopies. It is one of those plants that is so much a part of the southeastern landscape that to most southerners it feels native to memory itself — but it has only really been embraced as a garden plant in recent decades. \u003cstrong\u003eWilliam Bartram\u003c\/strong\u003e, the eighteenth-century Quaker naturalist whose \u003cem\u003eTravels\u003c\/em\u003e (1791) remains the foundational botanical document of the American South, described \u003cem\u003eCallicarpa\u003c\/em\u003e in the lush understories of the Carolina and Georgia woods he walked through. The southern poet \u003cstrong\u003eKathryn Stripling Byer\u003c\/strong\u003e used the beautyberry in her poem \"Beautyberry\" as a figure for endurance — beauty in the face of adversity, which is a fairly accurate description of how the plant actually lives in the world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"standard-markdown grid-cols-1 grid [\u0026amp;_\u0026gt;_*]:min-w-0 gap-3\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\"\u003eThe other story worth telling is more recent. In the rural Mississippi of his grandfather's generation, the USDA botanist \u003cstrong\u003eCharles Bryson\u003c\/strong\u003e had been told that crushed beautyberry leaves rubbed on the skin or stuffed beneath the harness of a farm animal kept biting insects away. Bryson passed the tip on to \u003cstrong\u003eCharles Cantrell\u003c\/strong\u003e, a chemist at the USDA Agricultural Research Service in Oxford, Mississippi. Cantrell and his colleagues isolated three terpenoid compounds from the leaves — \u003cstrong\u003ecallicarpenal\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eintermedeol\u003c\/strong\u003e, and \u003cstrong\u003espathulenol\u003c\/strong\u003e. In peer-reviewed laboratory testing against \u003cem\u003eAedes aegypti\u003c\/em\u003e mosquitoes (the yellow fever vector) and \u003cem\u003eAnopheles stephensi\u003c\/em\u003e (the Asian malaria vector), callicarpenal performed at roughly 79% the effectiveness of DEET. Against blacklegged ticks (the Lyme disease vector) and lone star ticks, callicarpenal was statistically equivalent to DEET. Against fire ants, also effective. The compounds were patented by USDA. The grandfather was right.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"standard-markdown grid-cols-1 grid [\u0026amp;_\u0026gt;_*]:min-w-0 gap-3\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\"\u003eIn the garden, \u003cem\u003eCallicarpa americana\u003c\/em\u003e is a forgiving, durable, slightly unruly deciduous shrub, reaching 4 to 6 feet tall and as wide, with an open arching architecture that wants light pruning in late winter to encourage compact growth and heavy fruit set. \u003cstrong\u003eIt blooms and fruits on new wood, so cutting back to 12–18 inches every spring dramatically increases production.\u003c\/strong\u003e The flowers in early summer are small, pale lavender-pink, in cymes at every leaf node — pretty in close inspection, easy to miss from a distance, and busy with native bees, syrphid flies, and small butterflies. The fruit is the show. Forty-plus species of southeastern birds work the clusters in fall and winter — northern bobwhite, robins, mockingbirds, brown thrashers, cardinals, finches — along with deer, raccoons, foxes, and opossums. The berries are mildly edible for humans (historically used for jelly, traditionally astringent fresh), though the wildlife usually clears them faster than any cook could.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"standard-markdown grid-cols-1 grid [\u0026amp;_\u0026gt;_*]:min-w-0 gap-3\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\"\u003eFor the southeastern native gardener, the wildlife gardener, the medicinal-and-folkloric collector with an interest in ethnobotany, the gardener who needs a tough adaptable shrub for partial shade, or anyone who wants to plant a piece of the actual flora of the American South — the plant Bartram saw, the plant Bryson's grandfather knew, the plant the USDA validated.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/woodlanders.net\/blogs\/news\/the-tale-of-callicarpa-americana-beauty-berries-and-botanical-magic\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eClick here for our in-depth article on this plant.\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057820274803,"sku":"CALL-AMER-01G","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/Callicarpa_americana_close_up.jpg?v=1777573718"},{"product_id":"callicarpa-dichotoma-issai","title":"Callicarpa dichotoma 'Issai'","description":"\u003cp data-start=\"342\" data-end=\"569\"\u003eCallicarpa dichotoma 'Issai', known as Purple Beautyberry, is a compact flowering shrub valued for its seasonal fruit and shape. This cold-hardy selection holds form through fall and fits well in small garden zones.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"571\" data-end=\"774\"\u003eIn summer, it produces pink lavender flowers followed by clusters of violet berry ornaments. These berries attract visual interest and remain into late autumn, standing out against clean foliage.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"776\" data-end=\"941\"\u003ePlant it in sun or partial shade with average soil and good drainage. This shrub grows well in borders or mixed beds and works best in well-spaced outdoor plantings.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057820307571,"sku":"CALL-DICH-ISSA-01G","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/DETA-1518.jpg?v=1720136773"},{"product_id":"callicarpa-dichotoma-var-albifructus","title":"Callicarpa dichotoma 'Albifructus'","description":"\u003cp data-end=\"344\" data-start=\"260\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-end=\"344\" data-start=\"260\"\u003eA Gentleman’s Beautyberry: Rare White-Fruited Elegance for the Discerning Garden\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-end=\"858\" data-start=\"346\"\u003eIn the quiet, golden hush of late summer, when many plants begin their slow fade into autumnal rest, there emerges a quiet miracle among the borders: \u003cem data-end=\"535\" data-start=\"496\"\u003eCallicarpa dichotoma var. albifructus\u003c\/em\u003e, the rare white-fruited form of the beloved beautyberry. Native to East Asia, this cultivar distinguishes itself with luminous ivory berries that gather in elegant clusters along graceful, arching stems. It is a plant of refinement—less brash than its amethyst-berried cousins, and all the more striking for its restraint.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-end=\"1255\" data-start=\"860\"\u003eThis shrub, modest in stature but bold in visual poetry, deserves pride of place in a woodland garden, cottage border, or even as a hedge in need of a soft, ghostly glow. Birds are drawn to the berries in late fall, but not before they’ve had their turn dazzling human admirers. The plant bears dainty pink-lilac flowers in summer—an understated prelude to the pearl-drop spectacle that follows.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-end=\"1381\" data-start=\"1257\"\u003eThose who garden not simply for show, but for soul, will understand: this is a plant that speaks in lyric, not proclamation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-end=\"1381\" data-start=\"1257\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eAdditional photos courtesy of Oregon State University\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr data-end=\"1386\" data-start=\"1383\"\u003e\n\u003ch3 data-end=\"1403\" data-start=\"1388\"\u003eHighlights:\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul data-end=\"2127\" data-start=\"1404\"\u003e\n\u003cli data-end=\"1470\" data-start=\"1404\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-end=\"1470\" data-start=\"1406\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-end=\"1428\" data-start=\"1409\"\u003eBotanical Name:\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cem data-end=\"1451\" data-start=\"1429\"\u003eCallicarpa dichotoma\u003c\/em\u003e var. \u003cem data-end=\"1470\" data-start=\"1457\"\u003ealbifructus\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli data-end=\"1534\" data-start=\"1471\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-end=\"1534\" data-start=\"1473\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-end=\"1487\" data-start=\"1476\"\u003eOrigin:\u003c\/strong\u003e Eastern Asia (notably Korea, China, and Japan)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli data-end=\"1620\" data-start=\"1535\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-end=\"1620\" data-start=\"1537\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-end=\"1564\" data-start=\"1540\"\u003eDistinctive Feature:\u003c\/strong\u003e Clusters of gleaming \u003cstrong data-end=\"1603\" data-start=\"1586\"\u003ewhite berries\u003c\/strong\u003e—rare and elegant\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli data-end=\"1677\" data-start=\"1621\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-end=\"1677\" data-start=\"1623\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-end=\"1638\" data-start=\"1626\"\u003eFlowers:\u003c\/strong\u003e Pale pink to lavender blooms in summer\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli data-end=\"1749\" data-start=\"1678\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-end=\"1749\" data-start=\"1680\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-end=\"1702\" data-start=\"1683\"\u003eWildlife Value:\u003c\/strong\u003e Berries provide \u003cstrong data-end=\"1749\" data-start=\"1719\"\u003elate-season food for birds\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli data-end=\"1836\" data-start=\"1750\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-end=\"1836\" data-start=\"1752\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-end=\"1765\" data-start=\"1755\"\u003eHabit:\u003c\/strong\u003e Graceful, arching growth; typically reaches \u003cstrong data-end=\"1822\" data-start=\"1810\"\u003e3–5 feet\u003c\/strong\u003e tall and wide\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli data-end=\"1892\" data-start=\"1837\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-end=\"1892\" data-start=\"1839\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-end=\"1865\" data-start=\"1842\"\u003eLight Requirements:\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cstrong data-end=\"1892\" data-start=\"1866\"\u003eFull sun to part shade\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli data-end=\"1986\" data-start=\"1893\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-end=\"1986\" data-start=\"1895\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-end=\"1914\" data-start=\"1899\"\u003eSoil Needs:\u003c\/strong\u003e Adaptable to a wide range of soils; prefers \u003cstrong data-end=\"1986\" data-start=\"1959\"\u003ewell-drained conditions\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli data-end=\"2127\" data-start=\"2026\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-end=\"2127\" data-start=\"2028\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-end=\"2046\" data-start=\"2031\"\u003eDesign Tip:\u003c\/strong\u003e Plant en masse or alongside purple-fruited beautyberries for a stunning contrast\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057820799091,"sku":"CALL-DICH-ALBI-01G","price":25.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/CallicarpaAlbifructusWoodlanders1.jpg?v=1750865708"},{"product_id":"callicarpa-americana-bok-tower","title":"Callicarpa americana ‘Bok Tower’","description":"\u003cp data-start=\"246\" data-end=\"457\"\u003eCallicarpa americana ‘Bok Tower’ is a native shrub known for its white berries and ornamental value. Unlike the common American beautyberry, this selection produces pale fruit and blooms later in the season.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"459\" data-end=\"624\"\u003eThe plant comes from Polk County, Florida, and was selected by Jonathan Shaw at Bok Tower Gardens. It performs best in warm southern zones where winters remain mild.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"626\" data-end=\"851\"\u003eUse this white-fruited American beautyberry in borders, naturalized areas, or native plant gardens. It works well with other ornamental shrubs and fits in designs that highlight seasonal contrast and wildlife support.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057820962931,"sku":"CALL-AMER-BOK-TOWE-01G","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/9A3E38AB-C67C-49B2-B03E-690FBE66BD77.jpg?v=1727119296"},{"product_id":"callicarpa-acuminata","title":"Callicarpa acuminata","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis deciduous Mexican shrub is somewhat like Callicarpa americana. The arching branches bear clusters of small shiny berries that are black instead of the more common purple of other Beautyberries. It was collected in Mexico by the late and great Texas plantsman Lynn Lowery and perhaps first offered to the international market by Woodlanders. Plant this shrub in good garden soil in sun or semi-shade.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057820995699,"sku":"CALL-ACUM-01G","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/DETA-292.jpg?v=1720136801"},{"product_id":"callicarpa-formosana","title":"Callicarpa formosana","description":"\u003cp data-start=\"253\" data-end=\"462\"\u003eCallicarpa formosana is a deciduous shrub that produces vivid purple berries along its stems in fall. The fruit clusters stand out against the fading leaves, adding strong color late in the season.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"464\" data-end=\"664\"\u003eThis beautyberry shrub grows well in warmer climate zones. It performs best in full sun or light shade with well-drained soil. Once established, it requires minimal care and keeps a compact shape.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"666\" data-end=\"840\"\u003eUse this plant as a garden shrub for borders, mixed beds, or wildlife areas. The berries support birds, and the structure fits well in formal and natural planting styles.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor detailed information, see: \u003cstrong\u003e\u003ca href=\"http:\/\/www.learn2grow.com\/plants\/callicarpa-formosana\/\"\u003ehttp:\/\/www.learn2grow.com\/plants\/callicarpa-formosana\/\u003c\/a\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePhoto credit to \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eJC Raulston Arboretum Plants\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057821192307,"sku":"CALL-FORM-01G","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/JMW4199.jpg?v=1720557306"},{"product_id":"callicarpa-americana-welchs-pink","title":"Callicarpa americana ‘Welch's Pink’","description":"\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\"\u003eEveryone who grows the native beautyberry knows it by its autumn display: those improbable whorls of magenta-purple fruit circling every stem like something a florist arranged and then forgot to bill for. 'Welch's Pink' is that plant, but in a color the species wasn't supposed to have.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\"\u003eMatt Welch stumbled onto it while working at the SFA Mast Arboretum and the Pineywoods Native Plant Center in Nacogdoches — a single wild plant fruiting clear, warm pink where all its neighbors fruited purple. Michael Dirr, not one to leave a question unanswered, grew out several thousand seedlings expecting the color to break apart. It didn't. Every one came true. What Welch found in the East Texas piney woods turned out to be genuinely stable; a new expression baked into the genetics, not a fluke of a single season.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\"\u003eThe berries are larger than the typical species and carry that clear, bright pink... not pastel, not blush, but a frank and saturated color that reads well from a distance and holds through the first hard frosts. The fruit whorls encircle each stem from August through October and often persist well into winter, until the birds make their own decision about it. Before any of that, small pink flowers appear in mid-summer — modest enough that you might miss them, vivid enough that you'll be glad you didn't.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\"\u003eSeeds come true to the pink, which means a naturalized colony stays a colony — no purple reversions drifting back through the planting over time. In a woodland edge, a rain garden margin, or a border where autumn needs something to say for itself, 'Welch's Pink' says it plainly.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057821257843,"sku":"CALL-AMER-WELC-PINK-01G","price":32.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/DETA-1919.jpg?v=1720136815"}],"url":"https:\/\/woodlanders.net\/collections\/the-callicarpa-collection.oembed","provider":"Woodlanders","version":"1.0","type":"link"}