Beauty Berries Aka Beautyberries Aka Callicarpa Americana

I have loved these berries since I first encountered them several years back, during one of my local nature walks. I had never seen or heard of them before, so wasn't aware that they actually have several uses. For some reason, it took me a while to identify them, but now that I know they can be useful, I wanted to share, in case anyone else is interested in them.

The berries apparently aren't very flavorful on their own, and in some people, can cause stomach upset. They can, however, be made into jelly. The leaves have mosquito repellant properties, and can be crushed and rubbed on the skin for this purpose. The roots can be brewed into an herbal tea. http://www.eattheweeds.com/beautyberry-jelly-on-a-roll/

 

That's an interesting berry. This is the first time I've heard of that. Are you really sure that those berries can be eaten? Here we have that fruit called tuba-tuba which is poisonous. There are cases where children ate the fruit and landed in the hospital.

Anyway, here is my reply to your berry. This is a wild berry that I saw in the mountain resort. I took a picture because my husband said that they used to eat those small berries when he was a boy. He calls it wild berry for the poor boys, hahahaaa. They are green when unripe and turn to bluish or violent when ripe. But be careful because the dark blue juice can stain your clothes.

 

Yes, they're fuchsia, or bright pink/purple colored. They can cause stomach upset in some people when eaten raw, but aren't poisonous. They're often made into jelly. There are a lot of berries around here, so I made sure to research the subject of those in particular, since they're so beautiful and striking. We have some berries that resemble the ones you posted as well, but I haven't looked into whether they can be eaten. I took some pictures of orange berries the other day, but they didn't come out very well. Did your husband say what the berries tasted like?

One thing I love about the olden days is that berry juices were used to make paints and dyes. We used to go to a lot of historic places when we were children, and that was one fact that impressed me, and I've never forgotten it.

 

I have seen something like these berries in my area. Not knowing what they were I have not touched them. If they are still on the stem in my next walk I will take pictures to see if anyone can identify them and if they can be eaten.

 

It's good to be knowledgeable about the kind of plants you live by. Locally we have plants like oleanda which is poisonous:
Many people plant them near electrical power boxes so no one goes near the boxes. You can see these pretty flowers all year long, but don't touch it! Only in the mountains there is wild guava that juice is made from, guava juice. These are strawberry guava. There's guava jam & jellies or juice. Curiously enough guava smells like cat pee when ripe! (picture from punynari.wordpress.com.)
Then there's mango growing in many people's yard. There's different variety of mangoes one common is the hayden mango. ( picture from kulafields.com.)

 

We have beauty berries all over Arkansas but I've never even heard of anyone eating them or making jam.

 

Yes, @Yvonne Smith they're vibrant and beautiful! That's the site where i found my recipe. I stumbled upon them several years back, when I was walking on the nature trails nearby, and it took me a while to identify them. I believe the site said they are prevalent in the southeastern U.S., but somehow they made their way over here. I also love seeing them. We have many different colors of berries here, but those are definitely my favorite color of all. Now, If i could just find some teal colored berries .

@Sheldon Scott I was surprised to see that people make jelly/jam out of them, too. I figured since they were so vibrant, they'd be poisonous, but although apparently they do cause some people stomach discomfort, they're edible in jams/jellies.

@Krissttina Isobe Ewww, I smell enough cat pee here with my 4 litter boxes, I guess I'll pass on the guava. I have never tasted it, though, so someday my curiosity might get the better of me. If so, I'd probably buy something already made up in a jar, though, to escape the cat pee odor.