Callicarpa americana 'Alba'

Do I have the right species?

Callicarpa americana 'Alba'

Dunno. It looks more like C. dichotoma or C. japonica to me. No matter what it's called, Wow! Callicarpa berries are one of those things I might've said should be purple, always and forever, but I can't say that anymore.

Scott

Broader perspective

The leaves look more narrow than the Callicarpa americana that I have.

Tammy,

As others have said, it's hard to say for sure between C. dichotoma and C. callicarpa. I have posted pictures of C. dichotoma albifructus for you to compare with.

Regards,
Ernie

White is a fine color for Beautyberries. From the Dawes 2 years ago.

Cool. I have one from seed which hasn't flowered yet. However, I understand that they are 90% true from seed.

I'd vote for either of the Asian beautyberries as the ID, Callicarpa dichotoma or Callicarpa japonica. The leaf tips narrow and extend out to the acuminate tips unlike what Callicarpa americana leaf tips look like. Callicarpa americana is also supposed to be tomentose on the leaf underside, which should be easy for Tammy to determine.

Finally: do male respondents need to post Burlier Perspectives if female DGers post Broader Perspectives?

VV, Me thinks you are sampling from your cellar this evening...

Well I enjoyed that one VV. I'll be expectin to see burlier perspectives from you Y'ers!

I'm gonna look for a hairy underside of those leaves but I'm not sure about acuminate tips.
Root of acuminate is acute? A leaf shape that gradually tapers to a long point. Here's another
of my callicarpa - is that an acuminate tip on the bottom left?

I'm sorry, but I'm blinded by delight. That looks like a grand specimen of Callicarpa dichotoma. What a bounteous (and braggadocious) display!

Yes, I believe the leaf that is pointing to the bottom of your picture (as well as the one immediately adjacent to the right, that is pointing right) display acuminate characteristics. The leaf has a width which narrows, and then extends at the narrower width some length to its final tip. If that isn't classic morphological poetry...

Must go back to Dirr (or some other tome, or maybe Garden Terms or Botanary here): acuminate means having an apex whose sides are gradually concave and tapering to a point. Acute is wildly different...having an apex whose sides are straight and taper to a point.

Seeing is believing; take a look at Dirr in the very front on page xix where there are illustrations of leaf bases, margins, and apices. We are talking about Callicarpa apices, for those who have fallen asleep in class or are throwing spitballs.

Have some coffee. There'll be a quiz.

Ahhhh... the cat ate my Dirr. I can't find it ANYWHERE. Five bazillion gardening books and I've lost it.

Tam

Probably holding up a table leg somewhere...

hmmmmmmm.... nope. Probably on my bedside table. (Did I say I only looked on
the first floor? ) So I'll have to take the night off from my studies & pick up tomorrow.
Tam

Tammy, I'll jump in here with my 2¢. Looking at your first picture, the leaves suggest Callicarpa japonica 'Leucocarpa' to me. Other possibility could be Callicarpa americana var. lactea, but as VV stated above leaves of C. americana are tomentose on the leaf underside. Also, if you remember what color the flowers were - Lactea has white flowers instead of pink for Leucocarpa.

And for those of us with a ~broader perspective~, how about a pink Beautyberry?

Debbie

I found my Dirr - sitting on the bedside under a pile of Horticulture magazines.]
Will have to look at it and the back of the leaves tomorrow.

I just love the colors of those berries. This genus just has amazing berries doesn't it?
Callicarpa first came to my attention on a visit to Monticello a number of years ago.
I just couldn't believe those purple berries.

Thanks Debbie. Glad to have another broader perspective.
Tam

I appreciate the broader perspective, nice to see how a specimen combines with a gardener's other plants, and how they all fit into the overall scheme of things. Is that a cotinus and lavender nearby?

Yes indeed! I think I need to move the cotinus out a bit - the spacing may
be too tight. I've wanted one for years and finally put in this shrub border
last fall. (OK - mixed border. I just can't resist intermixing perennials).

Tam

Yes, the cotinus gets really BIG, my step-daughter has one near her front door, it threatens to move in every now and then. She hangs these big Xmad ornaments from it , strings lights, during the holidays. It has very nice branching for that. It's all good! Wish I could grow lavender.

I'm going to go with Debbie's 2¢ in that this is probably Callicarpa japonica 'Leucocarpa'. In looking at the leaves, it's possible it could be Callicarpa dichotoma 'Alba' although the clustering of the berries in tighter to the stem suggests 'Leucocarpa'. I'm pretty sure it isn't Callicarpa americana var. lactea. I enlarged your leaves and this doesn't strike me as being the species that is indigenous to the US.

For comparison sake, here's an image of what I believe to be Callicarpa dichotoma 'Alba' but hopefully someone will correct me if I am wrong-

And, another pink back at ya rcn48! This is 'Welch's Pink' which is an americana cultivar-

Equil - yup, Welch's Pink is the picture I posted - better fruit last year on ours, but still pretty.

I agree its not americana - it is not tomentose on the back of the leaves.
Thanks for the help! And that Welch's pink is gorgeous!
Tam