Species epithet in honour of Emile Marie Bodinieri (1842-1901) French Missionary in Kweichow (Guizhou) China who made big plant collections Varietal name for Giuseppe Giraldi (1848-1901) Italian Missionary in China who collected plants in Shensi (Shaanxi)province, 1890-1895

A bushy, upright, medium-sized, deciduous shrub with elliptic to obovate, tapered, dark-green leaves, to 18cm (7in) long. In midsummer, this Callicarpa produces small pink flowers in cymes, to 3.5cm across, from the leaf axils. Violet-purple fruits follow the flowers in autumn. It grows to 3m high and 2.5m wide.

Grow in fertile, well-drained soil, in sun or dappled shade. Root softwood cuttings, or semi-ripe cuttings with bottom heat in summer. Pest and disease trouble free.

The related species Callicarpa macrophylla is used medicinally.

bodini'eri- commemorates Emile Marie Bodinier (1842-1901) French missionary in Kweichow (Guizhou), China, who made big plant collections.

giraldii- commemorates Giuseppe Giraldi (1848-1901) an Italian missionary in China who collected plants in Shensi (Shaanxi province) 1890-1895.

Callicarpa- from Greek, kalli-, beautiful; karpos, fruit.

In Japanese it is known as Murasaki, a word referring to the highly ornamental berries; purple being the most esteemed colour in Japan. This word is applied to any thing or person of extreme beauty or respect.

Callicarpa bodinieri H. Lev. var giraldii Lamiaceae Beautyberry. The species name bodinieri commemorates Emile Marie Bodinier (1842-1901) French missionary with Missions Etrangeres, and plant collector in China. He sent 930 herbaium specimens from the Peking region, via Pere David, to the Paris museum in 1890, and 1500 from Hong Kong in 1892 before going to Guizhou. The varietal name giraldii is not recognised by the International Plant Names Index, but used in horticulture. It commemorates Giuseppe Giraldi (1848-1901) an Italian missionary in China who collected plants in Shaanxi province 1890-1895 for the University of Florence (Bretschneider, 1898), . The cultivar 'Profusion' has an Award of Garden Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society. Medium-size deciduous shrub. Distribution: China. Described in 1911. The berries are bitter to taste, so probably poisonous, despite guesses to the contrary. The North American Callicarpa americana the Alabama people used it in a sweat bath for malaria and rheumatism' the Choctaw drank a decoction of the roots for dysentery, colic and dizziness; Koasati used it for stomachache; and the Seminole for 'snake sickness', itchy skin and urinary retention (Moerman, 1998). No documentation found for C. bodinieri being used in Chinese medicine.