This is CALLICARPA AMERICANA, which during most of my life has been assigned to the Verbena Family, but which genetic sequencing has now reassigned to the Mint Family.

I read that the fruits are edible, being juicy, sweet, fleshy, and slightly aromatic, but when I've nibbled them I wasn't too impressed, finding them mealy and tasteless. I further read that they make a good jelly and that sounds like a much better idea than eating them raw.

A decoction of the head-tall shrub's root bark has been used as a diuretic, its leaves used to cure the swelling of soft tissues due to the accumulation of excess water, a tea from its roots used for dysentery and stomach aches, a tea made from both its roots and berries for colic, and some native North American Indian tribes used the leaves and roots in sweat baths for the treatment of malaria, arthritis and fevers. I read that the crushed leaves put into fishy water stuns the fish so they can be caught.

Whatever their edibility, the fruits' gaudy color really catches the eye these days, especially because in recent weeks it's rained so much here that plants are as green as if it were July.