Culture
Easily grown in average, medium moisture, well-drained soil in full sun to part shade. Best flowering and fruiting is in full sun. Stems can become leggy in too much shade. Some tolerance for drought. Flowers bloom on new wood. Prune as needed in early spring. Most gardeners prefer to prune stems back to 6” in late winter to early spring each year. Such hard pruning tends to promote shrub compactness and good flowering. In harsh USDA Zone 5 winters, stems may die back to the ground in winter with new growth emerging from the roots in spring. Best cross-pollination and resultant fruit production occur when shrubs are planted in groups or massed.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Callicarpa dichotoma, commonly called beautyberry, is a small, rounded, deciduous shrub which typically grows 2-4' tall and is primarily included in the landscape for its showy fall display of lilac-violet fruit. Long, arching, slender branches dip downward often to touch the ground. Clusters (cymes) of small, pink to lavender flowers bloom in the leaf axils along the stems in summer. Flowers are followed by clusters of lilac-violet fruits (each 1/8" diameter) which ripen in September and put on their best show through October. Fruits persist beyond the point of leaf drop but not very far into winter. Elliptic to obovate green leaves (1-3" long) turn yellow in fall. One of the best ornamental fruiting shrubs.
Forma albifructa has white fruit.
Genus name comes from Greek meaning beautiful fruit.
Specific epithet means forked in pairs.
'Duet' is a white beautyberry cultivar that features a showy autumn display of white berry-like fruits on a rounded shrub clad with white-margined medium green leaves. This is reportedly the first stable variegated beautyberry. It is an upright-rounded, deciduous shrub that typically grows to 4-6' tall with a slightly wider spread. White flowers bloom along the stems in early summer (June-August). Flowers are followed by fleshy, globe-shaped, white, berry-like fruits that mature in expanded axillary clusters along the stems in fall. The berries are very attractive at the peak of ripeness (October), and blend well with the variegated elliptic to ovate-elliptic leaves (to 3" long). Fruits are attractive to birds. 'Duet' was discovered in 2000 as a variegated branch sport of C. dichotoma var. albifructus growing at Tennessee Technological University, Cookeville, Tennessee. After subsequent development, it was jointly released into commerce in November of 2006 by the USDA and Tennessee Technological University.
Problems
Winter dieback can occur in the northern parts of its growing range, but will not affect fruiting. Some susceptibility to leaf spot, stem diseases and black mold.
Uses
Group or mass. Borders, bird gardens. Underplanting for open woodland areas. Hedge for areas where winter hardy. For an interesting fall berry display, plant in combination with other fall berry-producing shrubs such as Ilex verticillata (red berries) and Pyracantha (orange berries).