American beauty-berry most often grows 3-5 ft. tall and usually just as wide, It can reach 9 ft. in height in favorable soil and moisture conditions. It has long, arching branches and yellow-green fall foliage, but its most striking feature is the clusters of glossy, iridescent-purple fruit (sometimes white) which hug the branches at leaf axils in the fall and winter. Bark light brown on the older wood, reddish brown on younger wood. Bark smooth, with elongate, raised corky areas (lenticels); twigs round to 4 sided, covered with branched hairs visible under a l0x hand lens. Leaves in pairs or in threes, blades half as wide as long and up to 9 inches long, ovate to elliptic, pointed or blunt at the tip and tapered to the base; margins coarsely toothed except toward the base and near the tip, teeth pointed or rounded; lower surface of young leaves covered with branched hairs. Flowers small, pink, in dense clusters at the bases of the leaves, clusters usually not exceeding the leaf petioles. Fruit distinctly colored, rose pink or lavender pink, berrylike, about 1/4 inch long and 3/16 inch wide, in showy clusters, persisting after the leaves have fallen.
American Beautyberry Care
Callicarpa Americana
Other names: American Mulberry, Beautyberry, French Mulberry, Sourbush
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Lighting
Full Sun
Hardiness zone
5a - 11
Difficulty
Easy
How to Care for the Plant
Water
The more sun these plants receive, the more water they will need. An inch per week is ideal, but they can survive in drier conditions. If they are in a sunny spot or it's a particularly dry period, a slow deep watering will be beneficial for the beautyberry shrub.
Pruning
Since beautyberry shrubs bloom on new wood, they are generally pruned (for shaping, if desired) in late winter. At the northern end of their range (zone 5), they are often treated as herbaceous perennials, by pruning them down to within 1 foot of the ground each year just before spring.
Fertilizer
They do not need fertilizer. The shrubs will benefit from a shovelful (or two) of compost in the spring. Too much fertilizer will result in fewer berries, so resist the urge to fertilize these plants.
Sunlight
Beautyberry shrubs should perform well for you whether in full sun or partial shade. These plants are not particularly fussy about growing conditions.
Soil
Either clayey or friable soil is fine for beautyberry shrubs. These naturally grow at the edge of swampland or in moist thickets, so a moist soil is preferable.
Temperature
Beautyberry shrubs don't have any particular temperature requirements, beyond thriving in their hardiness zones.
Popularity
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