Callicarpa bodinieri

Bodinier's Beautyberry
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Lamiaceae formerly Verbeniaceae
Genus: Callicarpa
Species: C. bodinieri
Binomial name
Callicarpa bodinieri
H. Léveillé

Callicarpa bodinieri (Bodinier's beautyberry) is a species of flowering plant in the genus Callicarpa of the family Lamiaceae, native to West and Central China. Growing to 3 m (10 ft) tall by 2.5 m (8 ft) wide, it is an upright deciduous shrub with dark green leaves turning red in autumn (fall). In midsummer, small lilac flowers are produced in the leaf axils. But it is grown in gardens primarily for its small, decorative purple berries in tight clusters in autumn.[1] While the berries are not poisonous, they are very bitter. Wildlife will not eat them until there are no other available food sources. This species is more tolerant of cold than C. americana (American beautyberry).

The Latin specific epithet bodinieri refers to Émile-Marie Bodinier, a French missionary and botanist of the 19th century, who collected plants in China.[2]

The cultivar C. bodinieri var. giraldii 'Profusion' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.[3]

References

  1. RHS A-Z encyclopedia of garden plants. United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. 2008. p. 1136. ISBN 1405332964.
  2. Harrison, Lorraine (2012). RHS Latin for gardeners. United Kingdom: Mitchell Beazley. p. 224. ISBN 9781845337315.
  3. "RHS Plant Selector - Callicarpa bodinieri var. giraldii 'Profusion'". Retrieved 18 June 2013.

External links

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