This is a Japanese beautyberry (Callicarpa japonica). Isn't it the most gorgeous thing you've ever seen? It stopped me dead yesterday, in the parking lot, no less, when I arrived at Scott Arboretum at Swarthmore College. I whipped out my digital camera - always handy for gardeners to carry - and snapped away, knowing it would be dark by the time I returned to the car.
This beautyberry is almost identical to the native American ones that I like so much - just smaller. The fruit is a bit paler, too, but the effect is the same: a riveting sight on a cold, windy day. The berries don't taste good to us and birds aren't wild about them either, stripping the other shrubs and trees of goodies first and turning to beautyberries last.
I wouldn't want to eat these guys anyway. They're too good to look at. They don't call 'em beautyberries for nothing.
