African Berry Bush Outshines
Published: Thursday, December 6, 2012 at 3:42 p.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, December 6, 2012 at 3:42 p.m.
Have you heard about the East African plant with berries that researchers have declared "the most colorful objects in nature"? Even more brilliant than the exquisite wings of blue morpho butterflies, which I marveled at in the Amazon Basin, the fruit of Pollia condensata are incredibly dazzling. Known regionally as marble berry (unrelated to Florida's Ardisia escallonioides, also called marble berry), this 3-foot-tall forest-dwelling perennial, which spreads by stolons, bears rounded clusters of metallic-blue fruit that reflect light more brilliantly and vividly than anything else in the natural world.
That unrivalled luminosity isn't the berries' sole distinction: They're also inedible. Although each berry contains seeds, there is no edible pulp, and thus no nutritional reward to tempt foraging birds. But birds do pick the fruit and disperse the seeds because they, like us, are beguiled by the gleaming berries and use them to decorate their nests, much like homeowners arrange colorful throw pillows in their living rooms.
What makes marble berries so colorful? Surprisingly, it's not pigmentation. Their splendid sparkle is due to what scientists call structural coloration: Each small berry is constructed, uniquely, of tightly packed strands of cellulose composed of cells that reflect light at different wavelengths.
If you're wondering how long the fruit's singular iridescence persists, no one knows for sure. Berries plucked from a plant and put into a drawer will emerge still bright and reflective decades later because their lack of pith prevents decomposition.
Although cultivation information about marble berry isn't available, I'd be surprised if it wouldn't grow reasonably well in Central Florida. An herbaceous, stoloniferous perennial native to a broad swath of forest in Ethiopia, Tanzania and Uganda sounds like an adaptable plant that would tolerate our climatic vagaries.
As of now, neither seeds nor plants seem to be for sale anywhere but hopefully an enterprising nursery will capitalize on this formerly obscure perennial's newfound fame. For the time being, I would recommend Florida's own beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) to gardeners who crave luminous berries. This deciduous shrub, which thrives in sun or shade, bears delicate pink or lavender flowers in early summer, followed by amazing clusters of lavender-purple berries in autumn. To view a photo of African marble berry, visit http://n.pr/UFbKUS.
[ Charles Reynolds, a Winter Haven resident, has an associate's degree in horticulture and is a member of the Garden Writers' Association of America. ]
This story appeared in print on page B7
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