Overview
Interesting Facts
Common Names
Common Names in English:
Early Amethyst Purple Beautyberry, Purple Beautyberry
Description
Genus Callicarpa
Shrubs
or trees
, erect
or rarely climbing
; hairs
stellate
, verticillately branched, dendritic
, mealy
tomentose
, or rarely simple
and hooked
. Branchlets
terete
or 4-angled. Leaves opposite or in 3s. Cymes axillary
, sessile or pedunculate
; bracts linear
. Calyx campanulate
, truncate
or minutely 4-dentate, unaltered in fruit. Corolla actinomorphic
, campanulate or tubular
, lobes
4. Stamens 4, inserted
on corolla tube
; filaments
slender, often exserted; anthers
ovate
or oblong
, dehiscing by longitudinal
slits or circular pores
. Ovary imperfectly 2-locular; ovules 2 per locule, attached to middle
or distal part of ovary. Style usually longer
than stamens; stigma usually dilated
. Fruit a small globose
drupe, endocarp bony, mesocarp
fleshy
, exocarp
thin. Seeds small, oblong; seed coat
membranous; cotyledons fleshy.
About 140 species: mainly in tropical
and subtropical
Asia, few in tropical America and Africa, and very few in temperate
Asia and North America; 48 species in China.[1]
Physical Description
Habit: Upright. Branches arching to ground . Deciduous.
Flowers: Clusters of small, pink-lavender flowers in mid summer. • Bloom Period: June. • Flower Color: pale pink
Seeds: Fruit: Prolific neon-purple berries along stems in late summer.
Size/Age/Growth
Growth Rate: Fast. Site with caution: may spread from seed. • Size: 3-4' tall and as wide.
Landscaping
Landscape Uses: Berries . • Care: Prune hard in late winter to renew . Follow a regular watering schedule during the first growing season to establish a deep, extensive root system . Feed with a general purpose fertilizer before new growth begins in spring . For a tidy, neat appearance , shear to shape in winter.
Biology
Growth
Culture: Space 36-48" apart.
Soil: Organic , well-drained soil. • Minimum pH: 5.6 • Maximum pH: 7.5
Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full to partial sun
Moisture: Water Requirements: Water regularly, when top 3 in. of soil is dry.
Temperature: Heat Zones: High: 8 (>90 to 120 days) Low:3 (>7 to 14 days) (map) • Cold Hardiness: 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b. (map)
Taxonomy
- Kingdom:
Plantae
(
)
- Plants
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
()
- Vascular Plants
- Class:
Magnoliopsida
()
- Dicotyledons
- Order:
Lamiales
()
- Tribe:
Callicarpeae
()
- Genus:
Callicarpa
()
- C. Linnaeus, 1753
- Beautyberry
- Specific epithet:
dichotoma
- Cultivar:
Early Amethyst
- Botanical name: - Callicarpa dichotoma 'Early Amethyst'
- Cultivar:
Early Amethyst
- Specific epithet:
dichotoma
- Genus:
Callicarpa
(
- Tribe:
Callicarpeae
(
- Order:
Lamiales
(
- Class:
Magnoliopsida
(
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
(
Similar Species
Members of the genus Callicarpa
ZipcodeZoo has pages for 21 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:
C. acuminata (Beautyberry) · C. americana (American Beauty Berry) · C. americana caroliniana (American Beautyberry) · C. americana var. ampla (American Beautyberry) · C. ampla (Cap Rosa) · C. bodinieri (Bodinier Beautyberry) · C. bodinieri var. giraldii (Beautyberry) · C. bodinieri var. giraldii 'Profusion' (Beautyberry) · C. cathayana (China Beautyberry) · C. dichotoma (Chinese Beauty-Berry) · C. dichotoma 'Albifructus' (White Beautyberry) · C. dichotoma 'Early Amethyst' (Early Amethyst Purple Beautyberry) · C. dichotoma 'Issai' (Japanese Beautyberry) · C. japonica (Japanese Beautyberry) · C. japonica var. luxurians (Japanese Beautyberry) · C. japonica 'Issai' (Issai Purple Beautyberry) · C. japonica 'Leucocarpa' (Japanese Beautyberry) · C. japonica 'Zhou Zhou Fuchsia' (Japanese Beautyberry) · C. kwangtungensis (China Beautyberry) · C. mollis (Japanese Beautyberry) · C. shikokiana (China Beautyberry)
More Info
- Search for Pictures: images.google.com
- Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
- Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
- Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books
Further Reading
- P'ei Chien & Chen Shou-liang, eds. 1982. Verbenaceae. Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 65(1): 1-229.
Notes
Contributors
- Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 10, 2012.
Identifiers
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 709095
Footnotes
- "Callicarpa". in Flora of China Vol. 17 Page 4. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
