In my yard there stands a 6’ tall shrub, which was covered with light purple flowers in late summer. Today these flowers have turned into clusters of dark red berries along almost every branch in the bush.

This shrub is the American Beauty Berry (also known as the French Mulberry) or Callicarpa Americana. It is native to the southeast USA and is a familiar sight along the lightly wooded hiking trails that my husband, Mike and I walk along on Sunday mornings. The countless ruby red berries are characteristically found hugging the leaf bases along the branches. They present such a contrast in color to the green leaves, no doubt attracting little critters and birds to the sweet berries. This plant was also well known to Native Americans that lived in the SE, who used the roots, branches and leaves for a variety of medicinal purposes.

What’s all this got to do with beading Mike asks? Ruby Zoisite! I say. Ruby Zoisite is nature’s wonderful combination of red ruby with the leafy green and black mineral known as Zoisite. Though Zoisite was discovered and named in the early 1800s, Green Zoisite was discovered in Tanzania in 1954. Green Zoisite is also known as Anyolite meaning green in the native Masai tribal language. Blue Zoisite is the more famous and more valuable gemstone from Tanzania, Tanzanite.

Ruby Zoisite is unmistakable in its beauty, combining the two primary colors of red and green, so much like the American Beauty Berry. Take a look at the pictures of the berries from my yard and the necklace made of Ruby Zoisite and see what I mean?

As Native Americans of long ago used the American Beauty Berry shrub to brew medicines for ailments ranging from fever to dysentery; natural healers of today attribute Ruby Zoisite to healing problems of passion and the heart
(ruby) and aiding in calming the passionate individual (green Zoisite).

Regina Santerre www.sundancegems.rubylane.com