I Ate the Beautiful Purple Berry in My Neighbor’s Yard for Us All

The natural world isn’t beholden to our lines of logic. As the question (and popular meme) “If not friend, why friend-shaped?” reminds us, plants and animals don’t always act—or taste, for that matter—the way they look. Tragically, you can’t pet everything soft. And sadly, you can’t eat everything that looks delicious. But, as evidenced by the magenta beautyberries lately seen adorning yards and the edges of forests around Texas, sometimes you can. The American beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) is aptly named. Its purple berry clusters are bright and nearly metallic, and they stand out against Texas’s otherwise drab fall landscapes—awash in dead grass and crunchy leaves—making them easy to spot. The shrubs look almost fake, like artificial decorative plants you could buy at a craft store. Maybe…

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