native beauty berry
- Thread starter timmie
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Timmie, not sure what plant your referring to.
I have been told that Poke berries are poison, buy I don't think they are pretty.
Jim
Found this article. Might help.
https://piedmontmastergardeners.org/article/callicarpa-beautyberry/
This pic is of the American Beauty Berry. I couldn't find any mention of them being poisonous.
https://piedmontmastergardeners.org/article/callicarpa-beautyberry/
This pic is of the American Beauty Berry. I couldn't find any mention of them being poisonous.
I never heard of that..must less seen one.
Not in West KY.
Timmie, if you get sick ..would you let us know...
Jim
Not in West KY.
Timmie, if you get sick ..would you let us know...
Jim
I never heard of that..must less seen one.
Not in West KY.
Timmie, if you get sick ..would you let us know...
Jim
I have never seen them either.
@timmie
Ah! Callicarpa americana… Beauty Berry. It’s a native plant. Most of the plant is mildly toxic. It might give you indigestion or the runs...
It’s one of my go to plants when I want to make insect repellent. I make it from the leaves. It makes a very good bug repellent.
That said the berries are edible… I’ve seen jelly made from the berries for sale at the farmers market… The color is just to weird for me to eat it…
https://www.authenticflorida.com/ar...-to-make-authentic-florida-beautyberry-jelly/
https://tableandhearth.com/beautyberry-jelly-water-canning-basics/
https://hearthandvine.com/beautyberry-jelly/
I’ve also seen Kudzu bloom jelly for sale at the farmers market… It smells to much like the grape bubble gum I used to buy when I played little league baseball. I haven’t eaten kudzu jelly either.
Ah! Callicarpa americana… Beauty Berry. It’s a native plant. Most of the plant is mildly toxic. It might give you indigestion or the runs...
It’s one of my go to plants when I want to make insect repellent. I make it from the leaves. It makes a very good bug repellent.
That said the berries are edible… I’ve seen jelly made from the berries for sale at the farmers market… The color is just to weird for me to eat it…
https://www.authenticflorida.com/ar...-to-make-authentic-florida-beautyberry-jelly/
https://tableandhearth.com/beautyberry-jelly-water-canning-basics/
https://hearthandvine.com/beautyberry-jelly/
I’ve also seen Kudzu bloom jelly for sale at the farmers market… It smells to much like the grape bubble gum I used to buy when I played little league baseball. I haven’t eaten kudzu jelly either.
I refuse to ingest insect repellent.
Blaaaah.
Jim
Blaaaah.
Jim
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Photo from Bruce Leander off the wildflower.org website. This is a great resource for information on the plants in Texas, put together by the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center. @Peanut these shrubs, as you've seen are so interesting looking when the berries have formed. Just thought I'd throw a photo in.
Wanting to get some shrubs in the front yard, why, I don't know why I'm bothering. For the birds, less lawn.
Any other suggestions for native shrubs? Maybe without berries.
Okay, I can speak to this.
I did a ton of research on this and decided to make the jelly.
It was beautiful and delicious.
I could find no documented cases of anyone having any kind of reaction to it.
Gave some to a friend who also loved it.
Then my husband had some.
He was red, swollen, and itchy from is neck to his knees the next morning.
He ended up having to go to the dr for steroild injection and pills.
So, just like any other foraged plant (or food you've never had), use caution and try a little bit first!
I will post pics if I can find them.
I did a ton of research on this and decided to make the jelly.
It was beautiful and delicious.
I could find no documented cases of anyone having any kind of reaction to it.
Gave some to a friend who also loved it.
Then my husband had some.
He was red, swollen, and itchy from is neck to his knees the next morning.
He ended up having to go to the dr for steroild injection and pills.
So, just like any other foraged plant (or food you've never had), use caution and try a little bit first!
I will post pics if I can find them.
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we had them in our yard in Florida. They don;t grow cold places. Birds love them
@TexasCharm Thanks for posting the pics of the jelly. I saw it years ago at the farmers market but never ate any of it.
Sorry that happened to your hubby. This is the only first hand account of a reaction that I've read. Personally, eating jelly from a plant i use as bug repellent is a bridge too far. I'm not comfortable with the idea of jelly.
The great Tommy Bass did not use this plant for anything. He mentions it only once as a plant a lady asked him to transplant to her yard, as an ornamental. Old literature rarely makes mention of it and then vague references to it being helpful in treat fevers by the Cherokee. I've found no actual account of it being used as medicine or how to prepare it. Nor is it mentioned in my foraging books.
I’ve used the leaves many times to keep mosquito's away. It grows by my chicken pen. The usual scenario is finding myself making minor repairs to the pen or some other chore just before dark when mosquitoes are bad. I crush the leaves and rub them on my exposed skin. Mosquitoes will not land on me or if they do they take off immediately. This effect only lasts about 30min then must be re-applied.
FYI - the chlorophyll in the leaves will stain clothing green.
Sorry that happened to your hubby. This is the only first hand account of a reaction that I've read. Personally, eating jelly from a plant i use as bug repellent is a bridge too far. I'm not comfortable with the idea of jelly.
The great Tommy Bass did not use this plant for anything. He mentions it only once as a plant a lady asked him to transplant to her yard, as an ornamental. Old literature rarely makes mention of it and then vague references to it being helpful in treat fevers by the Cherokee. I've found no actual account of it being used as medicine or how to prepare it. Nor is it mentioned in my foraging books.
I’ve used the leaves many times to keep mosquito's away. It grows by my chicken pen. The usual scenario is finding myself making minor repairs to the pen or some other chore just before dark when mosquitoes are bad. I crush the leaves and rub them on my exposed skin. Mosquitoes will not land on me or if they do they take off immediately. This effect only lasts about 30min then must be re-applied.
FYI - the chlorophyll in the leaves will stain clothing green.
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I've tried to use it mosquito repellant on the horses for a ride and never found it too successful.
It doesn't last very long for me. I have much better results with dog fennel. Even black walnut leaves are better than beauty berry. I won't seek out beauty berry but if mosquitoes are bad and I happen to be standing next to it I'll use it.
