Callicarpa acuminata

Callicarpa acuminata, the Mexican or black beautyberry, is a deciduous shrub in the family Lamiaceae, native from Mexico through Central America to Bolivia, where it grows in dry forest, thickets, secondary scrub and disturbed ground. It is a multi-stemmed, spreading shrub commonly reaching one to three metres tall, with opposite, ovate to elliptic leaves that taper to a pointed tip (the source of the epithet acuminata) and have toothed margins and a softly hairy underside. Small flowers are borne in dense, stalked cymes in the leaf axils, with a tubular pinkish to lilac corolla and protruding stamens. The fruits are conspicuous clusters of small, rounded, fleshy berries that ripen, unusually for the genus, to a dark purple-black rather than the bright magenta of many beautyberries. The plant is grown ornamentally for these striking fruit clusters and is a familiar component of Mexican rural and roadside vegetation.