Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) at Okra Paradise Farms
by John S. Quarterman, Lowndes County, Georgia, 4 June 2008.
Growing along the stems of a green-smelling bush: Continue reading
Further, William Bartram did mention it in his Travels of 1791, as
French mulberry.
Curiously, even though Google books does have Bartram’s book,
ngrams doesn’t seem to show French mulberry for that date,
but does show American mulberry.
Even more curious, William Bartram’s father, John Bartram,
corresponded with Linnaeus, the founder of modern
botanical terminology.
The currently most popular name is beautyberry, which turns out to be related to the scientific genus name, Callicarpa: Greek kalli means beautiful, and Karpos means fruit.
The plant has all sorts of uses: Continue reading
Anyway, comparing the common name beautyberry to the scientific name Callicarpa americana, it seems that the “common” name is much newer, at least in books.
Beautyberry is a piney woods bush that fruits as small violet berries that make tasty jars of jelly:
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So
first you pick and cook the beautyberries,
then you
strain them and cook them again,
and finally, you
can them in jars, as you can see Gretchen doing in the video linked
through the little picture to the right.
Here is one batch of beautyberry jelly jars:
Pictures and preserving of beautyberry, Callicarpa americana, by Gretchen Quarte rman, Lowndes County, Georgia, 17 Oct 2010
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So far we’ve picked and cook the beautyberries.
Now we want to pour it through a strainer to get out any remaining stems or skins.
That’s why it’s going to be jelly, not jam.
This strainer is an old pillow case.
First get it nice and bubbling.
Then strain it as in the first picture above.
Then cook it some more and add sugar.
To be continued….
Straining and cooking of Callicarpa americana by Gretchen Quarterman, Lowndes County, Georgia, 16 Oct 2010.
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Those small violet berries in the woods: it’s beautyberry, and you can eat it.
(No, not pokeberry; those are larger, and the stems are purple.)
Beautyberry grows in clumps that you can pick like you’re milking
the bush.
First, find some ripe ones:
Pick them and wash them:
And boil them:
To be continued….
Pictures of Callicarpa americana, Lowndes County, Georgia, 12 Oct 2010, as well as picking, cooking, by Gretchen Quarterman.
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This is Elsie’s 100th year: Continue reading
Pictures by Gretchen Quarterman, August and September 2009, Lowndes County, Georgia.