Looks like Beautyberry. Google Callicarpa americana and see if thats it.

Thank you. I think that that is probably it.

Benefit
Use Ornamental: Of considerable value for edge landscapes and surface mine reclamation. Good understory shrub. Easily propagated and requires little maintenance.
Use Wildlife: Valuable as a wildlife food plant.
Use Medicinal: Native American used root and leaf tea in sweat baths for rheumatism, fevers, and malaria. Root tea used for dysentery, stomach aches. Root and berry tea used for colic.
Conspicuous Flowers: yes
Fragrant Foliage: yes
Attracts: Birds , Butterflies
Nectar Source: yes
Deer Resistant: None

Here is a link that might be useful: Callicarpa americana L.

I didn't realize beautyberry grew in Ireland. But it certainly looks like the ones growing wild in my yard here in central Texas.

cedarstick, People have been importing plants for centuries. As soon as explorers discovered the new world, they took plants back to Europe.

I didn't realize beautyberry grew in Ireland.

LOL!! It is just a tad egocentric to think the US has cornered the market on plant variety. Probably 75% of the plants we grow here in the US originated elsewhere. The UK (and that includes Ireland) is arguably the primary source of new plant introductions to this country. Just as likely as we are to import plants from other countries, many of our natives get exported elsewhere. And there's not too many US native plants that don't have related species originating from another continent. While the plant in question is definitely a Callicarpa, it may just as easily and even more likely be one of the Asian species rather than C. americana. C. bodinieri "Profusion' is extremely popular in British and European gardens and has been for many years. FWIW, on the US west coast, one will only find cultivars of the Asian species - C. americana is pretty much unknown and unmarketed.

BTW, the berries are non-toxic, as was responded on a duplicate posting on another forum.

Gardengal48, I am not egocentric, & I do not think the US corners the market on plant varieties. I was just surprised that Ireland & Texas would have the same plants. Why can't you make a simple comment without calling names? Beautyberry is considered a native plant here in Texas & my property is covered with it. So get off your high horse.

Just in case the OP is still around and to avoid ruffling anybody's feathers I'd better point out that the UK does not include the Republic of Ireland (Eire) even though it is geographically on the island of Ireland. The OP is in Dublin, capital of the Republic, so definitely not in the UK.

I don't know why it should be surprising that Texas and Ireland can grow the same plants.......both are located in temperate parts of the globe, share similar winter hardiness conditions and even have somewhat similar annual rainfall totals. Ireland's just tends to get delivered a bit differently :-)

And that a single species of a plant is native to one part of the world does not negate its ability to grow elsewhere or for that matter, that other species of the same genus orginate from entirely dissimilar locations yet still can be grown very successfully elsewhere. To assume otherwise is to hold a very narrow view of the plant kingdom (and btw, fits the definition of egocentrism). Why it would be surprising that US natives have been exported abroad when we in turn import plants native to so many other countries?

I don't believe any name calling was involved and I'd question who was riding that high horse.

I didn't assume anything of the kind, but you seem to think you know what I'm thinking. We're not idiots here, but evidently you assume we are. Texas weather is nothing like Ireland, & knowing the conditions in which my beautyberry grows, it's just a little surprising that the same plant can grow in such different climates. That's all I was saying. I didn't say I was ignorant about plant import or export. This is all I'm saying on this subject. Don't assume something that wasn't said.

gardengal48 & esh_ga

How do you justify your smug behaviors? The comment made by cedarstick was quite harmless and not all all "egocentric". I happen to agree 100% with cedarstick about the differences between the weather of Ireland and Texas. There is no way that the Texas weather and/or climate are even remotely similar to Ireland. You state that they share similar winter hardiness conditions and even have somewhat similar annual rainfall totals. It makes me wonder what part of the world are you living in anyway? And it is obvious that you have never lived, and probably never even visited Texas, because you would understand that your comment is totally ignorant! Also in Texas we practice Good Manners and are considerate of the feelings of others. Yes, parts of Ireland might have a hardiness zone of 9, but I can guarantee you that it isn't the same hardiness "weather" that we experience here in Texas.

The climate of Ireland is mostly mild and moist with an average annual rainfall which varies between 30 to 40 inches in the drier eastern part of the country while most other parts have average yearly totals of between 40 to 54 inches. And 77 degrees F have occurred only in the months April to October and 86 degrees F has been exceeded only in June, July and August.

Texas has 6 different zones, i.e. ZONE 10: above 30 degrees; ZONE 9: 20 to 30 degrees; ZONE 8: 10 to 20 degrees; ZONE 7: 0 to 10 degrees; ZONE 6: -10 to 0 degrees; ZONE 5: -20 to -10 degrees. Zone 9 here on the coast is nothing like the weather of Ireland. In the summer the heat indices are more often than not between 105 to 110. I don't recall Ireland getting that kind of heat. And the rainfall is very scare with the middle of the Coastal Bend receiving an annual average of precipitation around 36 inches with the upper Texas coast getting as much as 55 inches a year. And as you go inland, the rainfall gets much less, to the point that in west Texas the average rainfall is less than 8 inches per year.

And since beautyberry Callicarpa americana is a Texas native, I too was surprised to hear that it was growing in Ireland considering the different growing conditions between Ireland and Texas and the fact that it is drought tolerant plant. In fact, too much rain can and will kill them. Here is some information on them:

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/ornamentals/nativeshrubs/callicarpaamerica.htm

So all in all, I believe that you both need an attitude adjustment when dealing with others here on this forum, and should, in fact, extend an apology.

Hold on!! You can read into previous posts whatever attitude you like and I can claim the same on the part of cedarstick....but before you start taking umbrage and demanding apologies (which, btw, I believe are not the slightest bit called for on either side), let's get our facts straight. I never said Texas and Ireland were identical climate-wise -- I said they shared some similarities that would offer similar growing conditions to the same plant.....and they do. I specifically said winter hardiness conditions, which tend to be the primary consideration on whether a plant will thrive in a given location - the bulk of Texas is predominately USDA hardiness zone 8 and 9. So is Ireland. Heat certainly can play a factor but it is far less of a leveling point than cold hardiness. Dublin, Ireland (where the OP resides) has an annual total rainfall of 28.5 inches, quite a bit less than Dallas' 37". And if you look at annual rainfall maps of Texas, you'll see that the bulk of the state again receives on average 16-32 inches, comparable to the OP's location. Dublin also reports only about 150 days of measureable precipitation per year, indicating drought tolerance would also be a valuable attribute for plants growing in that location as well.

And finally, there seems to be some sort universal Texan assessment that the plant in question must be Callicarpa americana when it is just as likely - if not more likely - to be one of the Asian species, i.e, Callicarpa dicotoma 'Profusion' or similar cultivar, which has been pointed out is widely grown throughout Europe. Where the egocentrism enters the picture is a) in assuming a US native plant is out of place or cannot be grown in another country and b) that the plant in question has to be the native in the first place. There ARE other beautyberries NOT native to this country.

My climate is more closely aligned with Ireland than Texas - we even share a sub-Mediterranean climate status that includes dry (often to the point of drought) summers and mild winters - but I still can grow virtually all the same plants that you can grow in Texas. And probably quite a few you can't grow well. Plants are hugely adaptable if given conditions that approximate what they require and to label a plant growing in Ireland as out of place, odd or unusual simply because that plant is native to an area you perceive as being incompatible climate-wise is to not understand the diversity and adaptability of the plant kingdom. Try and broaden your horizons!

Callicarpa bodinieri var. giraldii is the only Callicarpa listed in my RHS Encyclopaedia of Garden Plants. It has was given an RHS Award of Garden Merit in 1924 so has been around in our gardens for quite awhile. The one usually offered in the UK and Ireland is 'Profusion'. This is most likely what the OP has.

Wow, I think you all missed the most important point of the question. The little girl, remember her? I would have responded, take her to the doctor along with a sample of the plant. Jiminy crickets, who gives a rat's behind what KIND of plant, or the climate or where Ireland is? The issue here is the health of the child. I realize that this post is long after the fact, and I hope that she is OK. As for the rest of you, well, I just can't say it. Cheryl

Cheryl, the OP posted the same message on multiple forums here as well as on other websites. She got her answer very early on and the plant IS non-toxic. No harm to the child.

OTOH, one has to question the logic behind using GW and similar websites/forums to obtain this type of information in the first place. Obviously, time is of the essence in a situation where there is ingestion of an unknown plant, especially by a child, and its potential toxicity. Inquiring online is not the place to do so. Yes, identifying the plant is helpful but not a requirement - seeking appropriate medical attention is.

The ensuing discussion was very much after the fact.

Yeah, I didn't know about the other posts. I question the sanity of a parent piddling around on the internet if you thought your baby had ingested a poison plant, but didn't want to comment on that either. All that quibbling about silly details bothered me though. I usually just go look in other forums and keep my criticism to myself when the posts start getting nasty.

In the OP's defence I have to point out that there are not really any plants likely to be growing in Ireland or the UK which would seriously harm a child unless eaten in very large quantities. (Except perhaps one or two funghi). Personally, if one of my children had eaten something unknown I would have watched for some kind of symptoms before bothering the doctor. The OP got an id (on this forum at least) in an hour and a half and had time to respond. Presumably the child was still OK or they would not have been sitting at their computer. I assume the OP just wanted to be armed with the name if any symptoms did occur. If a visit to the doctor had been necessary it is doubtful whether s/he, unless a gardener, would have had any idea what the plant was and would probably have resorted to the internet to find out. I do not wish to underestimate the caution required with plants but we are fortunate over here in having very few which will do much harm other than a nasty taste and possibly a bit of tummy ache.

I'm sorry but I think you are seriously underestimating the potential of some very common - to the UK - garden plants that rate quite high on the toxicity level. As in they could be fatal if ingested and not in large quantities, either. These include the berries from English holly, English laurel, yews (Taxus species), Daphne, Symphoricarpos (snowberry), Ligustrum (privet) and the seed pods of Laburnum and Robinia. And annual ornamentals like Ricinus (castor bean). All of these can be very appealing to children because of their berries or interesting, bean-like pods.

There are all sorts of other plants commonly grown in gardens all over the temperate world that are very toxic if ingested - monkshood, foxglove and hellebores come immediately to mind - but because it is the foliage or flowers rather than kid-appealing berries or seeds, these are of less concern. But they are still very widely planted.

OK gardengal - yes there are certainly some poisonous plants in our gardens but I stick to my general statement that they are mostly unlikely to harm a child UNLESS EATEN IN QUANTITY. Poisoning by garden plants is very rare. Maybe I'm just a neglectful parent. Clearly it is sensible to teach kids not to eat anything in the garden unless a trusted adult oks it.

Here is a link that might be useful: RHS advice on toxic plants

Flora - I seriously doubt you are a neglectful parent and I do agree that serious or fatal poisonings by plant are rather rare :-) But the potential certainly exists and it does behoove parents to keep an eye on small children, especially inquisitive toddlers, in the garden and definitely teach them to keep stuff out of their mouths unless OK'd by a parent. I gardened with small children and pets also and without incident, but there are some plants I would just not risk having around where kids could access them easily.

And this should not be limited to only outdoor plants. The American Association of Poison Control Centers reported over 7000 cases of oxalate plant poisonings in 2007, 82% of which were children under the age of 6. Oxalates are gritty crystals naturally contained in a wide variety of plants but in high concentrations will cause intense pain and swelling of the mucous membranes if chewed or ingested and can, in extreme cases, cause blocking of the airway resulting in death. Many common houseplants - dumbcane (Dieffenbachia), philodendron, pothos, Anthurium or peace lily, Chinese evergreen - contain oxalates in very high concentrations and are the source of most of these poisonings.

I was curious so I looked up the 2008 report from the AAPCC. Plants represented 2.4% of all poison exposures; 4.9% for adult cases and 2.6% of pediatric cases. Plants did not make the top 25 causes of death. The top 6 plants in terms of frequency of exposure were Spathiphyllum spp., Phytolacca americana, Philodendron, Euphorbia pulcherrima, Toxicodendron radicans, and Ilex spp.

There were no deaths reported from exposure to mushroom or plant toxins out of 2,482,041 exposure cases. Interestingly, there were 2 deaths that resulted from exposure to herbicides, specifically glyphosate. There were 9 deaths attributed to insecticides, most from organophosphate.

Euphorbia pulcherrima isn't even considered toxic.
Local Garden Guru decided to prove the point by
eating a bowl of leaves in milk!

Here is a link that might be useful: Jerry Parsons, Ph.D.

That's a real interesting report. But what a strange plant list. Guess the 'exposure' numbers are the things people called to ask about, not necessarily things that caused symptoms. So I guess 'everybody knows' that Poinsettias and Pokeberry are poisonous. (And I suppose that the Spathyphyllum and philodendron and stuff with oxalates do cause uncomfortable symptoms, which is probably why people call about them.)

My vet had me call the poison control center after I caught one of my cats munching on a poinsettia and called to ask him what to do about it. The guy who answered the phone at the poison control center said not to worry about it. He was very helpful and didn't seem to mind answering questions about animals, either.

WW

We are a people poison center but we do try to help if it's something simple with animals. But when you call us about the cow eating the bags of cement or the alligators that are sick from the pond treatment we usually refer you to someone else. Cats are a whole 'nuther problem. They have a missing enzyme that makes almost everything toxic to them so I always refer cats to the vet.

We all grow much more toxic things then we think. Foxglove is the source for digitalis. So yes, most plants you have to ingest a lot of and most things people worry about they shouldn't. Poinsettas are NOT toxic, that myth dates back to the 40's, 50's? when a child in Mexico of about 3 died unexpectedly, it was blamed on poinsettas because they grew in abundance around the home and the child had been seen chewing on one.

Euphorbia can cause contact dermatitis. The milky sap is the culprit. Pencil tree cactus juice in the eye almost always will cause a corneal burn. Irrigate your eyes and go to the ER. Never put any drops in your eyes either if you got something in them, use tap water to irrigate.

There WERE deaths from mushroom in 2008, they were NOT reported to the poison control center in their area. Our stats are only on cases we actually handle. Not everyone calls us, some call their MD, some go to the ER. Not every ER calls us.

You can call the poison center from any phone in the US. California poison centers got a reprise, they were going to close due to funding but were rescued at the last minute. The service is paid for by a surcharge on phones in the US. Most countries in the "developed" part of the world also have poison centers. And a lot of developing countries or third world nations have at least attempted to get a poison center started there.

We send out tons of Mr. Yuk stickers, booklets, babysitter boards, etc. Our educators provide seminars, talks, demonstrations, etc. We're here 24/7 and will talk to you anytime.

1-800-222-1222 is the national number. Put it in your phone. Call us and we will send you stickers for the phone with the number on it. The number is on Mr. Yuk stickers.

1-800-213-6680 for animals-there is a charge as they do NOT have funding.

Call us BEFORE you treat some, don't give syrup of ipecac, we quit that 10 years ago. Throw away the tylenol-that's our biggy and the leading cause of liver failure in the US.

And thanks for the best laugh I've had this year. Ireland and TEXAS!! If it grows in Ireland it ain't growing in my yard! I shared this with a friend of mine who is from Ireland and she about peed her pants she was laughing so hard.
Tally HO!

Well......it certainly is a bit disturbing that there is such a widespread lack of understanding of climates and plant hardiness and adaptability. Of course many of the same plants can be grown in both Texas and Ireland - it has to do with the Gulf Stream (ever heard of that??) and beachplant, if you think this is not possible then you must have a very dull garden. Here is just one list:
"outstanding shrubs for Texas"

I'll bet your Irish friend has at least a few of these growing, as virtually all will grow as easily in Ireland as they will in Texas. And that doesn't even begin to address all the various trees and countless perennials that will grow in both locations equally as well.

btw, palm trees and other 'tropical' plants grow in Ireland also - it's not the Arctic afterall:
{{gwi:356291}}

So go ahead and pee your pants. I guess for some, ignorance IS bliss.

It might be helpful to imagine a Venn diagram where the interlocking area contains plants which will grow in both Ireland and Texas. Outside are plants which will grow in one or the other but not both. Winter temps are not very low in Ireland, especially on the coast. But summer temps are not very high either. So, no cacti but plenty of things like baytrees, rosemary, fuchsias etc.

Regarding the 'palms' in the photo. They are, in fact, Cordyline australis, a common plant in seaside areas. There are some palms which are hardy in southern areas. One which is often seen is Trachycarpus fortunei.

The link gives an idea of conditions in the British Isles. Notice that some areas around the SW coast almost never get temps below 0c. But remember also that this is not dry warmth. Especially in Ireland! Look at those clouds and the colour of the grass.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hardiness zones British Isles

It takes more than the Gulf Stream to make a climate. You are forgetting lat & longitude among many other factors. And you will be very hard pressed to find a climatologist or botanist to agree with your viewpoint. Noone ever said plants can't grow in a variety of locations. Thriving is another matter. Cordylines for the most part won't grow here, it's too hot. They aren't palm trees either. And ricin is a small tree or big shrub NOT an annual, it's grown as an annual in cold climates, not here.

You can read Curts magazine, the Beachcombers alert, look for me in there on occassion. I do sentinal beach combing and report all my finds. Of the 4 people in the world that report shoe finds I have the most skewed results, I find 77-87% left shoes, shoes drift differently. In Florida I found mostly right shoes. Curt is one of the worlds experts on ocean currents and drift, he predicted when and where the Nike sneakers would wash up a few years ago. You just missed the fall drift convention on the west coast. Living on a barrier island we are very well aware of ocean currents. And it is an area of additional interest and study for me. If awakened from a coma I could tell you what time of year it is from what is in the wrack line.

Fushia won't grow here. The coast of Texas, and for that matter most of the state, is very HOT in summer, today it's supposed to be 81. I can't think of a single part of the state that doesn't hit triple digits most of the summer, with lows not much cooler. It's not unusual to have a "low" with a heat index over 100 at 3 am.

My Irish friend doesn't garden. But she has lived in both places and can't find a thing similar with the climates. She has a whole new wardrobe here, she couldn't wear any of her old clothes as it's always too hot here.

Here's a link to my "boring" garden. I'd be really interested to see how many Irish gardeners are growing plumeria, in the ground and having them bloom!
Tally HO!

Here is a link that might be useful: Our boring garden

Beachplant, I love your boring garden!! Did you lose any during last year's Hurricane Ike? I'm in Bastrop, TX & you have one plant I've been wanting for a long time--Pride of Barbados. There are several growing at a store here in town. Maybe I can find one at a nursery in Austin.

I also love your shoe reporting...LOL. I hope they're all empty. A friend found a human leg bone on the beach at Matagorda last year. The authorities say it's not uncommon to find human bones on the beach.

Luckily I've never found a human bone. But a friend of Curts did, he didn't know it and had it on his mantle, another friend pointed out it was a human leg bone & they called the police. Turns out it belonged to YET ANOTHER friend that had been missing and was murdered!! What are the odds? He was so freaked out he didn't go beachcombing for about a year after that and says he still won't look at driftwood piles, that's where he found the bone.

I hang all the shoes I find on the "wall of lost soles", the wooden fence at our house. The wall even made it on TV! I found a message in a bottle, for those of you concerned with OCEAN CURRENTS you can look up the article at the Galveston County Daily news and see exactly WHICH currents it drifted in on, the path it took and the length of time, and a great picture of ME! I made the front page. It was shocking to pull up to the papermachine and see myself staring back out. It was dropped off a teaching ship by a guy who has been dropping messages in a bottle off boats & ships since he was a kid.

The garden lost about 80% of it's plants in Ike. Things I took down to save from blowing away drowned. We had waist deep water for 2 days, we think, there was no water in the house but roof damage from the wind. Of course, the roofers did much worse damage when they set the house on fire. The neighbors house is 11" shorter than ours & she had 10" of water. She might actually get to move home in 2 weeks. My brother had his house elevated, the wiring and plumbing, siding, floors have been done, they are working on the inside and front steps now, hopefully they will be home just after the new year. I know they, like a lot of others, are tired of living in a travel trailer. We sent mom to my sisters while her house was being done. She had to have her staples removed from surgery while we were evacuated and then we couldn't find her doctor. My bro-in-law is an MD & my sister doesn't work outside the home so it worked out well. She had 2-4' of water in her house. My Aunt is moving home next week, she had water to the roofline. My cousin has her downstairs gutted but still waiting to start work. A lot of our neighbors moved, my cousin is the only one for 2 blocks in her neighborhood and only about 1/4 of my brother neighbors are back. There are houses for sale everywhere.

We thought the Pride of Barbados to be dead, it sort of came back last year but didn't look good through winter, I was really surprised when it started to bloom a few weeks ago. It's only a few feet high, it was over 12' before the storm. The city ripped the yellow one out of the ground while we were all exiled. They grow really easy from seeds if you find someone with seeds.
Tally HO!

We have friends who have a place at Crystal Beach, but on the bay side. Luckily, the only permanent structure they had was a screened-in cabana, but everything from the beach side was washed over them during the hurricane. We haven't been there since then, but they're rebuilt & are fishing again. There's just no predicting nature. Hope you have many more years hurricane free.