Early Amethyst

Medicinal.

Shrubs 1(-3) m tall, much branched. Branchlets slender, with stellate hairs when young. Leaves sessile or subsessile; leaf blade lanceolate to obovate, 2-6(-10) X 1-3(-4) cm, papery, abaxially with small yellow-glandular stellate hairs on margins, adaxially glabrous and subscabrous, base cuneate, margin coarsely dentate along apical part, apex usually very short acuminate with an obtuse tip, veins 4 or 5 pairs. Cymes 1-2.5 cm across; peduncle slender, 8-12 cm; bracts linear. Calyx cup-shaped, less than 1 mm, subtruncate, obscurely dentate, outside few glandular. Corolla purple, tube 2 X as long as calyx tube. Stamens exserted; filaments 2 X as long as corolla tube, glabrous. Ovary glabrous, sparsely yellow glandular. Fruit subglobose, 1-2 mm in diam., with few glands. 2n = 36.

Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Shandong, Taiwan, Zhejiang [Japan, Korea, Vietnam]

Mixed forests on mountain slopes; below 600 m.

Porphyra dichotoma Loureiro, Fl. Cochinch. 1: 70. 1790.

Callicarpa dichotoma, the purple beautyberry or early amethyst, is a species of beautyberry. They are cultivated as garden shrubs. The flowers are pink to white. The berries which are small drupes are purple. The fruits grow closely together in large clusters. The fruit provides food for wild life. The berries are edible and have a mild taste. This species can be found in China, Vietnam, Korea and Japan.