Callicarpa americana - AMERICAN BEAUTYBERRY

Easy to grow shrub with ornamental violet-magenta fruits in clusters from mid fall to winter.

Open growth habit with arching branches.

Can be damaged by harsh winters (in zone 6 or 5/6), but resprouts back from the lower parts (can be easily prune back to 1-2' of height at the end of winter).

Indigenous Americans used the plant (roots, leaf tea) in sweat baths for rheumatism, fevers, and malaria.

Tea from roots was used for dysentery, stomach aches. Root and berry tea used for colic.

Blooming Time: June- August, but flowers are small pinkish and insignificant
Size: 3-6' high x 3-6' wide
USDA Zones: 6 to 12
Culture: full sun, half shade. Adaptable, but prefers rich soil, somewhat drianed soil (add decaying leaves, compost, old manure), grows well in heavier, sandy soils too. Established shrub tolerates droughts, but severe drought or heat waves can influence the performance or amount of berries
Moisture Needs: medium, medium-moist
Origin: native shrub/subshrub to southeastern and southern states = AL, AR, FL, GA, LA, MD, MO, MS, NC, OK, SC, TN, TX, VA, but also in northern Mexico, Bermuda, Cuba, the Bahamas and other islands in the West Indies.  Naturally occurs in swamp margins, woodland edges, moist thickets, rich bottomlands, moist slopes, coastal plains tec.
Deer/Rabbit Resistant: yes/yes, but deer can feed on the berries
Attracts Butterflies or Pollinators: yes - butterflies
Attracts Hummingbirds: no, but many small birds, squirrel and other wildlife feed on the berries and help to spread them

Black walnut tolerance: yes

Plant combinations: Naturalistic gardens, public and private gardens, bird and wildlife gardens, medicinal or herb gardens, woodland edge garden, rain gardens.

Can be combined with other shrubs or medium sized to taller perennials with similar growing conditions. Looks better, if the close by plants have mounding habits or are groundcovers. Striking combinations can be achieved with combinations with yellow leaves of Amsonia hubrichtii (or hybrids and other Amsonia with good fall color), with Rudbeckia fulgida var. fulgida (last to bloom Rudbeckia), and mounding grasses like Muhlenbergia 'Undaunted', Panicum, Pennisetum (where not seeding invasively), Schizachyrium scoparium, Sporobolus.

Good companions are Amsonias, mounding Asters, Baptisia, Phlox paniculata (or other tall phloxes), as well as non-native perennials like Nepeta, Salvia nemorosa, Hemerocallis, Irises, Paeonia, Sedum telephium.

Pot Size: 3.5" x 4" perennial pot (1.22 pt/580 ml)

Pictures copyrights: 1- John Murphy, Commons Wikipedia, 2 - US Perennials