\n\n \n\n \nThe currently most popular name is beautyberry, which turns out to\nbe related to the scientific genus name, Callicarpa: Greek kalli\nmeans beautiful, and Karpos means fruit.\n \nThe plant has all sorts of uses:\n\n\n \nCrushed berries were rubbed on the skin to repel mosquitoes. In modern\ntimes, farmers and ranchers in Texas applied the berries and leaves to\ncattle and horses in order to repel flies. A study by Kinghorn (2008)\nconfirms that Callicarpa Americana does have mosquito bite deterrent\nactions. Callicarpa leaves contain terpenoids that repel fire ants\naccording to a recent study by Chen, Cantrell, Duke, and Allen (2008).\n \nOther ethno botanical uses: Native Americans used Callicarpa americana\nfor ceremonial uses. William Bartram recorded Native Americans cultivating\nCallicarpa americana in Georgia and Northeast Florida during his\nbotanical expeditions of the 1740s. The plant has been use to produce\ndye and fish poison. Austin documents that traditional uses of related\nMexican species include making of rafters and supports for bean vines.\n<\/blockquote>\nWhen Forester Wayne Bell of Moultrie pointed it out to me,\nhe remarked that it was supposed to repel mosquitoes.\n<\/a>\n
<\/a>\nFurther, William Bartram did mention it in his Travels of 1791, as\n\nFrench mulberry<\/a>.\nCuriously, even though Google books does have Bartram’s book,\nngrams doesn’t seem to show French mulberry for that date,\nbut does show American mulberry.\nEven more curious, William Bartram’s father, John Bartram,\ncorresponded with Linnaeus, the founder of modern\nbotanical terminology.<\/a>\n
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<\/a>\nNative Americans had many uses for beautberry, both internally and\nexternally. According to Taylor (1940), Native Americans used beautyberry\nexternally as a steam and topical application. All parts of the plants\nwere used for different purposes Roots, leaves, and berries became the\nbase for various teas and decoctions created to treated a wide variety\nof common aliments. It was also used for ceremonial activities.\n