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Beauty Berry Lives Up To Its Name

Courtesy photo

The American beauty berry is easy to maintain and it attracts wildlife, the good kind.

Dee Dee Jacobson

Published: February 16, 2009

SEBRING - Beauty Berry Lives Up To Its Name

Florida Friendly Plant of the Week: American beauty berry or Callicarpa americana.

This shrub is one of my all time favorites. I don't have one in my yard but I soon will have.

This particular shrub I personally love because it is so easy to maintain and it attracts the wildlife; the good kind.

The berries are a beautiful magenta clustered close to the stem and can be used in flower arrangements without dropping off. The shrub lends itself to naturalist garden by having long arching branches, which grow to be 5- to 9-foot tall and just as wide.

It does best in partial shade with moist soil but has low water requirements. It would make a wonderful understory shrub for your yard.

Once you have seen this shrub in full color, it will catch your eye and you too will have to have one for your garden.

There is a white form, Callicarpa Americana "alba" which has white berries. I have to say I still like the original one, but if you what something different, "alba" would fit the bill. Just keep in mind this cultivar isn't as hardy as the magenta species.

The beauty berry flowers are small, pink, dense clusters that bloom in the spring and mid-summer. The leaves offer some fall color before they drop off to expose the full brilliance of the berries, the most striking feature. This is a must have for any "Florida Friendly" landscape.

I NEED TO KNOW

What is that white stuff on my sago?

It isn't a fungus but rather an insect, believe it or not.

Sago palms are not really palms at all but belong to an old grouping of plant material that has been here since the beginning of time called cycad.

This particular cycad or sago Palm has a fairly new enemy called Cycad Aulancaspis Scale or Aulacaspis yasumatsui.

It is better known as cycad scale, Asian scale or sago scale. It was introduced into Miami Dade County in 1996 and is a native of Thailand. This particular scale insect is a very serious pest because it can cause severe damage and will ultimately kill your Sago palm. The cycad scale is currently in 45 Florida counties, including all of south Florida.

To help control this pest in your landscape, know that the scale is present year-round and particularly in warmer weather.

While you are out enjoying your yard or perusing your garden, check your sago palms out at least weekly. It is very important to monitor for this insect in the spring and treat before populations build up.

You will know the insect by its color and location. If the sago palm is really infested you will see the female white armored scale. It is no larger then 1/16th of an inch long and may be pear or irregularly shaped. The male armored scale is white, ¼ inch long, and elongate with parallel ridges. You will notice it on the trunk, base of the leaves, cones, seeds, roots, and ultimately both sides of the fronds surface. Damaged fronds eventually will turn brown. Ultimately the cycad will die.

It is important to monitor for crawlers (young) in the spring and treat the sago palm before populations build up.

The dead scales are persistent on the plant for several months, so to determine if the scale is still alive scrape some scale off with your fingernail. If the scale is dry and powdery, the scale is dead.

If the scale is slightly moist or gooey, the scale is alive. You should vigorously wash your sago palm with water from your hose to clean off the dead and live scales. Apply horticulture oil (Organocide, SunSpray oil or Ultra-Fine oil) over the entire plant once a week for one month and if the sago palms are heavily infested, remove the fronds before treatment.

Place the removed fronds in a durable plastic bag and throw it out with the household trash.

There are two biological controls for the cycad scale, a predaceous beetle and a parasitic wasp that were introduced into Florida in 1997. Both have become established in south Florida and help control the cycad scale but neither provides complete control.

This is why it is so important for you to monitor for crawlers in the early spring.

For more information on this particular scale, go to http://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/orn/palms http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/IN253 http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/IN474.

General Information

Scientific name: Callicarpa americana

Pronunciation: CAL- -carp-pah A-mer-RICK-con-nah

Common Name(s): American beauty berry

Family: Verbenaceae

Plant type: deciduous perennial

USDA Hardiness zones: 7-10

Planting month for zone 9: early spring and fall

Origin: Native to Florida

Uses: Understory plantings, accent plantings