Callicarpa bodinieri Seeds | Bodinier’s Beautyberry

Small, pale brown Bodinier's Beautyberry seeds, hard and rounded, on a plain background — Bodinier’s Beautyberry (*Callicarpa bodinieri*): Lamiaceae, native to the thickets of central and southern China.

LATIN NAME: Callicarpa bodinieri

COMMON NAME: Bodinier’s Beautyberry

Plant Profile

Bodinier’s Beautyberry is a deciduous shrub of the mint family, growing to about three metres with upright stems, oval leaves that are slightly hairy beneath, and small pinkish flowers in summer. Its real season is autumn, when tight clusters of small, metallic violet berries appear along the stems and hold their colour after the leaves have fallen.

It comes from the thickets of central and southern China, and it was introduced to European gardens in the early twentieth century by the collectors who worked for Veitch and for Kew. The cultivar ‘Profusion’ is the form most often sold, selected for the density and the depth of colour of its fruit.

Science & Biotechnology

The violet colour comes from anthocyanins in the berry skin, and it is unusual among temperate shrubs for its metallic, almost blue sheen. The berries are eaten by birds, but only after the flesh has softened, so the display often lasts into December before it is stripped.

The leaves contain callicarpenal, a sesquiterpene that was isolated in the 2000s after a folk practice in the American South of rubbing beautyberry leaves on the skin to repel mosquitoes. Laboratory tests found it comparable to DEET against some mosquito species, and it has since been studied as a natural repellent. In colder gardens the berries can be damaged by early frost, which turns them brown and ends the display.

Uses & Benefits

It is grown almost entirely for its autumn and winter berries, which provide a colour that few other hardy shrubs can match at that season. It works well at the back of a border, in a mixed hedge or against a dark background, and the cut stems last for weeks in water.

The berries are not edible for people, though they are not seriously toxic; birds take them later in the winter. The leaf extract is the basis of a small natural-repellent industry, but the shrub is grown for ornament rather than for harvest. It also works well in a mixed hedge, where its berries show against darker foliage.

Growing from Seed

Sow in autumn in a pot of loamy compost and leave it outside through winter; the seed needs a cold, moist period to germinate evenly. Sow thinly, cover lightly, and expect seedlings in spring, sometimes unevenly over several weeks.

Plant out in sun or light shade in any reasonably fertile, well-drained soil, and water through the first summer. The shrub flowers on new wood, so cut it back hard in early spring to encourage vigorous growth and better berry set; without pruning it becomes leggy and the crop thins. Plant two different clones if the best fruit set is wanted.

Our Take

Grown for its violet berries, which light up the garden after everything else has gone over. It is easy, compact and improved by hard pruning, and it earns its place in the autumn border.

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