American Beautyberries cluster around the stem
Beautyberry: Callicarpa Americana
The Beautyberry is squirrel’s version of take out.
Squirrels will often break off a branch a foot or two long and carry it to an oak tree penthouse to enjoy. Mockingbirds and other birds are also exceptionally fond of the Beauty Berry. Humans are not as enthusiastic.
“Insipid” is the word usually used to describe its gustatory qualities. The truth is the berries of the Beauty Berry, or Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana, (kar-lee-KAR-pa a-mair-ee-KAY-na) while an attractive magenta, are mealy and almost flavorless. Their only immediate pallet character is a little texture from a tiny seed. But, this is not to say the Beautyberry– also called the Beautybush — is worthless to man nor beast. While this writer knows of no nutritional analysis of the Beautyberry, it might have similar antioxidant and vitamin properties as other colored, edible fruit. Many web sites warn not to eat the berries, and some call them poisonous. They are not poisonous but I suppose if one is going to make a mistake it is better to say something is poisonous when it is not than edible when it is poisonous. And for the record, worldwide there are about 140 different species of Callicarpa. The leaves of this one, incidentally, make an excellent fish poison for stunning them.
Berries ready to be made into jelly
Blooming pink in spring and fall, the Beautyberry has fruit clustered along the stem. The berries are slightly astringent and best eaten raw only a few at a time. Where Beautyberries excels is in making jelly. Beautyberry jelly is exceptionally good. (See recipe below.) Perhaps drying or cooking eliminates any astringency. I make Beautyberry jelly nearly every weekend it is in season as well as Pyracantha jelly (see my blog Firethorn and Santa Claus.)
Dr. Julia Morton, a famed research professor of biology at the University of Miami said this about the Beauty Berry in her book ‘Wild Plants for Survival in South Florida:” “The rank odor of the plant makes nibbling of [berry] bunches on the stem unpleasant.”
Her point was well taken: There are three chemicals in the leaves scientists are trying to replicate for mosquito repellent. They may be as effective as DEET, according to researchers with the USDA. The chemicals, particularly one called callicarpenal, showed significant bite-deterring activity against the yellow-fever mosquito and the mosquito that spreads malaria. Callicarpenal and other compounds isolated from the plant also repelled fire ants and ticks.
Native Indians had many uses for the Beautyberry, among them: A decoction of the root bark as a diuretic; the leaves for dropsy; a tea from the roots for dysentery and stomach aches; A tea made from the roots and berries for colic; and, the leaves and roots in sweat baths for the treatment of malaria, rheumatism and fevers. This author can only speak to the use of berries in jelly, and leaves as an external mosquito repellent. However, a study published 6 Feb 2007 Journal of Natural Products suggests the C. Americana has anti-cancer potential.
The Japanese Beautyberry’s fruit is on stems away from the main stem.
A fairly common Beautyberry that is an ornamental is the Callicarpa japonica. It is easy to identify from the American Beautyberry because its fruit are on long stems away form the main branch. American Beautyberries wrap around the main stem. More so, the C. japonica is long banched, skinny and skinny leafed, weeping, the C. americana is not. While there are no reports of edibility of the C. japonica’s berries that I know of (in English) the leaves are dried and used to make a tea. I do know of one person, however, who tells me she makes jelly out of C. japonica berries. There are also a few other Asian Callicarpas that have edible or medicinal parts. Callicarpa dichotoma berries are too bitter to consume.
The Beautyberry is a cousin of the smelly Lantana and the Oaxaca Lemon Verbena, which I also have in my yard. I got the Oaxaca from a Greek friend of mine who got it from a Hispanic neighbor. How this supposedly exceptionally rare plant got from one particular isolated spot in southern Mexico to Central Florida I do not know. It doesn’t even have an established common name, but it makes a nice lemon-flavored herbal tea. (See my article on Oaxaca lemon verbena.)
The following jelly recipe is from “Florida’s Incredible Wild Edibles” by Richard Deuerling and Peggy Lantz. The book is for sale on Amazon. Many years ago I used to wander through the Florida landscape with Dick and Peggy and others on outings with the Native Plant Society. They taught me a lot. The only problem with going into the wilds with such folks is it takes about an hour to go a hundred feet because there is so much to be said about the plants one knows, and debates, usually over some unidentifiable “dirty little composite.” Here is a link to their book: http://www.amazon.com/Floridas-Incredible-Edibles-Richard-Deuerling/dp/188525802X
Beautyberry Jelly
1 ½ qts. of Beautyberries, washed and clean of green stems and leaves. Cover with 2 qts. water.Boil 20 minutes and strain to make infusion. Use 3 cups of the infusion, bring to boil, add 1 envelope Sure-Jell and 4 ½ cups sugar. Bring to second boiland boil 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand until foam forms. Skim off foam, pour into sterilized jars, cap.
UPDATE: One of my students, Fred, does a lot of foraging and has lived his life in mosquito-ladened Florida. He reports: [Beautyberry's] “jelly is awesome but I really love the beautyberry for its insect repellent properties. After learning about this from a Green Deane class and being an avid forager myself I decided to use the beautyberry as a bug repellent so it wouldn’t slow down my summer foraging (Florida summer mosquitoes can be horrible). I pretty much chopped up a plant(leaves and stems) and boiled it in a pot and let it cool and strained the brown liquid into my blender, about 1 1/2 cups. In a separate pot I warmed some organic neem oil (1 cup) with 1 ounce of beeswax until melted. Then you turn the blender on and pour in the oil mixture very slowly and it becomes a cream. I have to say hands down the best insect repellent ever! Because its a creme on july/august days one application is all you need for the entire day even when your sweating.”
Green Deane’s “Itemized” Plant Profile
IDENTIFICATION: A small, deciduous shrubs 1 to 2 m in height, leaves opposite, elliptical to ovate, large, with saw-toothed edges. Flowers cluster around stem, funnel-shaped with four clefs. Fruit magenta 2 to 4 seeds, White fruited ones are an escaped cultivar and edibility is unknown.
TIME OF YEAR: Spring and fall in Florida, late summer to fall in northern climes
ENVIRONMENT: Dry,open woods, moist woods, thickets and hammocks, adapted to climates with hot, humid summers and moderate winters
METHOD OF PREPARATION: A few berries can be eaten raw, depending upon your agreeing with the flavor, otherwise makes a great jelly. The berries can be used to make a tea with antioxidants.
HERB BLURB
Native American Indians used the roots and leaves to make a tea to treat fever, dysentery, malaria and rheumatism
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{ 27 comments… read them below or add one }
Our beautyberries are DELICIOUS! We tried them today after watching your wonderful youtube video. However, our beautyberries look more like Callicarpa japonica than Callicarpa americana. We have one Callicarpa dichotoma whose berries do not have a delightful flavor. All three of us ate a few Callicarpa berries today. If they have no ill effect on our system, we’ll eat a few more. Sincerely, they are sweet! My two-year-old, Lauren, likes them better than Hackberries and Hackberries taste like candy
With 140 varieties of Callicarpa is it possible there is an americana variety with smaller leaves? If you think we should stop eating these sweet berries, please let me know! Thank you!
The USDA — not always a reliable source — says Callicarpa japonica is only naturalized in North Carolina (at least in the US.) It has much smaller leaves than the C. americana. I have not read of the C. japonica berries being edible, though a tea is made from the leaves. I also have not heard of a tea for consumption being made from the C. americana but it does have edible berries when ripe.
Hello, I like the recipe but how much head space and how long is it processed for? thank you!
I left very little head space and followed a standard jelly making recipe for time. I am sorry to not be more technical than that. I’m just a woodsy bachelor.
Hi Green Dean!
Uploaded a video on my site included a link back to you as you were the inspiration for my wild food find!
http://rawwillpower.com/2011/lifefood-wildfood-wild-food-beauty-berry/
Thanks
Will
I made this jelly yesterday and it was wonderful! My husband agreed it is now one of his favorites. Thank you for sharing this recipe with us. I did harvest a few seeds to plant in our yard. I would rather grow a few bushes here to make enough seeds for both the wildlife and us instead of harvesting it out of the wild.
I live in Maryland and my beautyberry bush looks more like japonica than americana. Have you found out if jelly would be okay to make from that?
Callicarpa japonica is an ornamental where as the C. americana is found in the wilds. The USDA says C. japonica has only escaped cultivation in South Carolina. Also the Japonica’s berries are on one to two inch stems away from the branch, the C. american has berries that wrap around the main branch. Look at Google images for both and you can see the different. I will, however add a C. japonica picture to my web page. Thanks.
the jelly is awesome but i really love the beautyberry for its insect repellant properties. after learning about this from a green deane class and being an avid forager myself i decided to use the beautyberry as a bug repellant so it wouldnt slow down my summer foraging (florida summer mosquitos can be horrible). i pretty much chopped up a plant(leaves and stems) and boiled it in a pot and let it cool and strained the brown liquid into my blender about 1 1/2 cups. in a seperate pot i warmed some organic neem oil(1 cup) with 1 ounce of beeswax until melted. then you turn the blender on and pour in the oil mixture very slowly and it becomes a cream. i have to say hands down the best insect repellant ever! because its a creme on july/august days one aplication is all u need for the entire day even when your sweating
thank you green deane!!
So Beautyberry leaf juice has to be processed for insect repellent and oil and wax ingredients added. No wonder it hasn’t worked for me “as is” in the woods. I have used Beautyberry leaf juice smeared on and frankly Dog Fennel leaf juice has worked better for me. If it doesn’t work for me as is or very little processing with what is in the woods, its worthless to me for repellent unless I make it at home first. I will stick with smeared on Dog Fennel if I don’t have anything else. But thanks for the bug juice recipe.
No, it does not have to be processed but apparently it is more effective if it is…
I was wondering about the idea of using dog fennel as a repellent. The stuff we have growing here called dog fennel smells so bad it sure repels PEOPLE. How come it works for you? I can guarantee it doesn’t work with mosquitoes as while I’d be busy wrestling with uprooting the stuff, they’d take advantage of the situation and come in for a fill-up!
), but well, why smell abominable if (in my experience) it doesn’t work? I’ve had better luck repelling skeeters by smearing myself with the lemon balm that happily reseeds itself all over my garden area. (Yea, and then had people ask me why I’m using lemon furniture polish as a perfume…)
However, this shows the importance of using Latin names rather than just relying on a common name. The plant referred to above is not the stinkbomb we have out here. Our dog fennel is Anthemis cotula and looks similar to my nice smelling chamomile plants. (DON’T confuse it with chamomile FYI…makes a nasty tea….) It also is supposed to be an insect repeller (due to its smell
I’ve got to get some beautyberry growing, though. I’m a serious mosquito magnet. Wonder if it’d work as a ‘Beautyberry Balm’ combination…
[quote="Green Deane"]No, it does not have to be processed but apparently it is more effective if it is…[/quote]
Yeah, Deane. Just that I am always looking for something to use for a “better” natural repellent. Either as is or processed by what is also natural at hand in the woods. Can’t very well go to the store when I’m in the woods unless I bring it with me and that kind of defeats the purpose. Might as well get a bottle of DEET. I am not about to raid a bee hive for wax so maybe some kind of leaf wax? Not too many Indian Neem trees here abouts either but maybe some other evergreen might work?
[quote="Beth"]I was wondering about the idea of using dog fennel as a repellent. The stuff we have growing here called dog fennel smells so bad it sure repels PEOPLE. How come it works for you?[/quote]
This is it. The long stringy leaf stuff.
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=EUCA5&photoID=euca5_006_avp.tif
It does indeed have a strong odor. But it is not obnoxious. I did not say it works 100% effective. It does help keep most skeeters away temporarily. I just take a handful of the stringy leaves and rub them between my hands with a little water, spit, whatever and smear it on about once every hour just like the Seminoles do. Put it on a fire for smudge fire like the Seminoles do. Use it for a soft springy bedding to repel insects and critters like the Seminoles do. It does not deter gnats though. Its better than mud or nothing. Pick up a copy of Reid F. Tillery’s “Surviving the Wilds of Florida.” Good practical book by the trained former US Army Medic/S&R and made specifically for Florida survival.
http://www.floridaadventuring.com/survivingwilds.html
[quote="Beth"]I’m a serious mosquito magnet.[/quote]
Same here. Little tormenters. lol
LOL I was just looking at the USDA geographical map and it says we don’t have any in our county. Well……..we do….and lots of it.
Those USDA maps can be so wrong… and when you write to them about it all you get in return is a ration of royal attitude.
Sorry for not being clear. I live in California. I am gleaning a lot from this incredible website as many items covered are found here, also, growing wild, in cultivated areas, or found in some of the local nurseries (that employ people that know their plants, unlike some of the big box Home Depot scarily clueless wonders).
I don’t do DEET even if I’m driven to the point of insanity but the monsters (and believe me CA mosquitoes are HUGE, smacking one that just tanked up is VERY messy.) Had some government issue DEET. Unlike most of the bottles you find in the stores, they had a serious warning on them: “Do not get on plastics. Melts plastics.” (They were in specially formulated plastic-like bottles that weren’t meltable.) And we’re supposed to believe it’s safe and HEALTHY to rub DEET all over as a mosquito repellent?????
So I’m looking for a viable homemade alternative. Will try Fred’s remedy up top–when I get some Beautyberry plants grown next year. A local company, jdhudsonseeds.net sells Callicarpa americana seeds and a bunch of other useful ones. I think we have an abandoned wild bee tree up the hill also that the black bears got into but left some comb fragments for wax…at least they left most of the tree intact…
Well Beth, the point I was trying to make about the Dog Fennel above is that there is a definite difference between having it on and not. I don’t get bit nearly as much as if I did not have it. The Native Seminole Indians have been around long enough to know what works and what doesn’t. It is not total protection though so you have to keep that in mind. You may not have this variety out in CA. There are other natural skeeter fighting methods mentioned in Tillery’s book used by both the Seminoles and the pioneers but they may turn your nose up at most of them. lol
I have not had a problem with the effectiveness of DEET and I have used full strength 100%. The stuff that will kill skeeters that are foolish enough to ignore the stuff and try to bite anyway. This does happen with mangrove skeeters along the coast. It probably is not the best thing for skin that is for sure but it had to have been good enough for the GIs in Vietnam. Most DEET nowadays is only about 30 or 40% strength as it has been said that more does not improve protection. I understand you not wanting to use DEET though. Florida has a big skeeter problem in more ways than one and it has been jokingly suggested that the skeeter be made the state bird.
The Neem oil costs about $8.99 per ounce at the local health food store here. They do not carry larger quantities (1 cup above) and I am not paying that price. Might as well get a bottle of DEET. Its cheaper. I don’t have the luxury of carrying it with me usually so I need a good natural repellent. I will stick with Dog Fennel until a better natural repellent comes along. Best of luck.
When I first came to Florida if a mosquito bothered you all you had to do was step out into the sun and the mosquito would go away. But then one was imported that flew in the sun and life has been miserable since…
As for the cost of Neem at health stores, I am in Landscaping and use Neem oil for pest and fungal problems with plants. I get a container that resembles a motor oil bottle for about $17. And the directions call for something like a Tablespoon per gallon of water for plant use. I will sometimes take the bottle and turn it upside down on my thumb and use that to spread around my ankles and again up on arms and neck and ears. It works well. I live in Georgia, and I use paw paw leaves crushed and rubbed for repellent. Also hickory leaves and sassafras leaves for beddin. g. Helps deter chiggers. Hope this helps.
If I were you Beth, I would dig into the local Native American Indian and pioneer methods of California for combating skeeters naturally. They would have been in a position to know what works there. Try to find some literature on it. Western sources. Some western survival books might also help. I was reading a western survival source “Outdoor Survival Skills” by Larry Dean Olsen (considered the father of the primitive skills movement) that says that the mashed leaves of wild onion, Onion, Wild Garlic, Nodding Onion; Allium rubbed on the arms and neck are an effective insect repellent but also warns it is a very effective people repellent. Page 110. Again best of luck.
As the warnings have stated in some sources, do not confuse Wild Onion with Death Camus as they may look similar. Onion has odor, Death Camus doesn’t. Don’t want you to get Zigadenus or Death Camus poisoning if you happen to eat one.
Make that Death Camas.
Yea, I’m pretty good about identifying my plant life. I usually get in trouble going on hikes with people cuz I tend to stop and check things out, take samples, collect things, thus slowing down the hike.
Your point to check on local native resources is good, and I try to do so. The Bay Tree (Umbellaria californica) has been used to repel insects, but for some susceptible people, like me, its nickname, “Headache Tree” is more appropriate, as the crushed leaves cause an instant headache, and inhaling a handful can cause some to faint (I’ve seen it happen on a hike, knocked a guy out, just one big whiff.) There are others, like various Artemisias and White Sage, but I haven’t found a noticeable difference between applying them–and mosquitoes…well, I just guess our mosquitoes appreciate ‘fine cuisine’, dining on herb-seasoned humans…
Thanks for the tips, though!
if mosquitoes are that bad, drink a table spoon of apple cider viniger daily. soon your skin will smell like viniger, and no more mosquitoe bites! I once found a patch of beautyberry with lobed leaves, almost like large red maple(acer rubrum(?) with with teeth sightly larger than those of red mulberry(mora). any idea about what that might be? it was on a sandy hill, in almost full sun, surounded by pine and kudzu, in north alabama. I realy would like to grow this plant!
I’m so happy to have found this website – so much great information on native plants and their uses! On the subject of effective natural mosquito repellants: I’ve also been looking for one, and came across this study a few months ago: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010828075659.htm From the article: “Researchers report that nepetalactone, the essential oil in catnip that gives the plant its characteristic odor, is about ten times more effective at repelling mosquitoes than DEET…” The article also states that catnip can be found wild in most parts of the U.S. I haven’t tried catnip out myself yet, so I can’t vouch for it personally, but I plan to try! Thanks to everyone for sharing their questions and knowledge, and thanks for this fabulous website!
It’s funny to think that I was told that beautyberries were poisonous when I was a kid, but that’s obviously not true since I’ve eaten plenty over the years.
However, it’s never been clear to me about edibility of the unripe beautyberries. Are the unripe beautyberries lethally toxic like the unripe lantana berries, or are the unripe beautyberries just extremely astringent like unripe persimmons? Or, is it somewhere in-between with the unripe beautyberries being both astringent and only mildly toxic? I really have no interest in eating the unripe beautyberries. I’m just looking for clarification. Thank you.
Do not eat unripe beautyberries. That entire group of plants tend to have toxic unripe seeds.
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