#Callicarpa americana

[faguscarolinensis]

Callicarpa americana 'Alba' / White American Beautyberry at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens at Duke University in Durham, NC

[dogsaver-blog]

Callicarpa Americana by JP T

[spookyfoxdreamer]

[camera-punk]

Amerikanische Schönfrucht (Callicarpa americana)

[carabbydae]

I found a vireo nest in one of my sampling plots yesterday while collecting soil cores. Yesterday was a trial but this little nest was a very bright spot.

We get tons of white-eyed vireos in my area, in the cross timbers and oak savannahs of North Texas. Vireos build their nests in the v of a branch like this, and I usually find them between 2 and 5-6 feet off the ground. They particularly like beauty berry shrubs (Callicarpa americana), and I often find a vireo nest near a Mexican plum tree (Prunus mexicana) although I'm not sure if they like them or if they just like the same habitats. The nests are extremely hard to spot in the growing season, but when the leaves drop in the fall, suddenly you'll find the empty nests and get to marvel at their beautiful construction. The vireos weave them using grass, spiderwebs, and moss. They look magical.

I hope that the babies that fledged from this nest, and the parents that built it and tended it, all made it safely south on their migration. Migrating song birds in this part of the US have to make a 500+ mile flight across the Gulf of Mexico during their migration. It's an insane feat that takes them 18 hours and many birds perish at sea from exhaustion. It's really critical for the birds to be in good health with healthy fat reserves to fuel them so that they can make it safely to land. These grasslands are healthy and hopefully provided everything the birds needed to make the trek, but habitat like this decreases every year. Wherever you are, fight to protect the nature around you so that it can support lives like vireos, the trees and shrubs that shelter them, the insects that feed them, the plants that feed those insects, and the soil that supports everything above it.

I hope that in the spring, these birds return and I can hear them singing in these savannahs again 💚

[aphermion]

my American beautyberry, Callicarpa americana

[alcnfr]

A few more looks at the American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana)...

[wygbyrm]

so i went to a native plant giveaway last night and i walked away with two plants, coontie (zamia integrifolia) and american beautyberry (callicarpa americana)

not my pictures but this is what they will look like when they get big lol.

the beautyberry is showier but i am honestly more excited for the coontie because it's a really cool plant. it's been growing in florida since the mesozoic era and in spite of the plant being almost entirely toxic, it was a staple food source for florida's indigenous peoples. they figured out how to process the roots and used it to make a bread-like food.

when settlers figured out the process, it lead to the over harvesting of coontie. the atala butterfly, whose larva are entirely dependent on coontie as a food source, came close to extinction. coontie is federally recognized as a near threatened plant and it is illegal to harvest it in the wild. it's become a very popular landscaping plant and both coontie and the atala butterflies are bouncing back.

i'll need more than just one plant to make a habitat for the atala butterflies but for now, i can dream....

atala butterfly if you even care.....

[theambermycophile]

American Beautyberry (Callicarpa Americana)

One of my favorite plants on the trail! I recently successfully transplanted one, and cannot wait for it to grow on my property. I loved the gradient berries on this one. In order to get this photo, JP had to hold my backpack so I wouldn't fall over the ledge. (I would have survived, but wouldn't have been happy had I fallen.)

[slugmorelz]

American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana)

© J. Richard Abbott (CC-BY-NC)

[faguscarolinensis]

Callicarpa americana / American Beautyberry at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens at Duke University in Durham, NC

[autisticplants]

Manduca rustica caterpillar feeding on Callicarpa americana.

[whatnext10]

Colorful Beauty Berries Can Last Late into the Fall

Late Beauty There are quite a few American beautyberry bushes (Callicarpa americana) that grow wild on my property and I try to leave them alone for a couple of reasons. First, the berries that they produce each fall and into the winter are aptly named and are quite beautiful. They are also edible, both for people and for wildlife, including birds, squirrels, deer, and foxes. The most common way…