Quarryhill Botanical Garden

Collected as wild-origin seed on November 4, 1989 by Koji Ogaki of the Plant Medicinal Garden at Kinki University, Japan, at 200 meters, from Yanagida, Fugeshi-gun, Ishikawa Prefecture, Honshu Island, Japan.  The aptly named “Japanese Beautyberry” is native to eastern and central China, Japan and Korea.  It is a deciduous shrub, about 2 meters tall with opposite, serrated leaves.  Its flowers are small and white to purple.  Its fruit is a small round drupe of a deep, luminous purple to rich mauve color, formed in tight, persistent clusters. These shrubs are primarily grown for their showy fruit display in the fall yet also for their delicate, lilac-purple colored flowers in mid-summer.

Cultural requirements for this species include full sun to part shade exposure and regular water.  Flowers and fruit occur on the current year’s growth, so pruning in late winter is preferable.