You can eat beautyberries now, but they will be riper in a few weeks.

Beautyberries, Callicarpa americana

They’re no longer mealy, and they have some flavor. They’re ripe enough to be made into jelly.

But in a few weeks they’ll be in full flavor. Even better then for eating or wine-making.

Callicarpa americana is native to the U.S. southeast, from Maryland to east Texas, plus Mexico and parts of the Carribean.

No, it’s not the same as pokeweed, which has redder and larger berries, purple stems, and is poisonous. Beautyberry is edible and tasty.

To repel insects, rub the pale underside of beautyberry leaves on you. Or grind up some leaves, steep them in alcohol such as vodka, and then mix with vegetable oil to make a sticky concoction that will keep yellowflies, mosquitoes, and even ticks off you and your pets.

It’s similarly as effective as DEET; see C L Cantrell, J A Klun, C T Bryson, M Kobaisy, S O Duke, J Agric Food Chem, 2005 Jul 27 53(15):5948-53. doi: 10.1021/jf0509308, Isolation and identification of mosquito bite deterrent terpenoids from leaves of American (Callicarpa americana) and Japanese (Callicarpa japonica) beautyberry.

Exactly how effective is still a matter of study and debate. I can say that without it yellowflies bite our dogs until they bleed, but applying this concoction keeps those bitey-bugs off for hours.

The berries also stay on the plants late into the winter, serving as bird forage.

Oh, and beautyberry looks and smells good.

-jsq

Short Link: