Here's a close up pics....sorry for the blurr....it was the best I could do.

Thanks, Jeannie :)

I see Texas has the same problem with formal shearing of informal plantings that has become epidemic in my area.

Thanks floral....I finally had a chance to look up Malpighia glabra and the red berries on this shrub are tiny compared to what a barbados cherry shows. Who knows!

Embothrium ? The shrubs are at a church that I work at!

Thanks, Jeannie :)

Where they are being clipped into unnatural shapes, despite being naturalistically grouped. Naturalistic as in not arranged in straight lines.

The Plant Amnesty membership organization has called this out of context close barbering of trees and shrubs not part of geometric formal garden layouts "maintenance shearing". (Mow the grass and while you are at it mow the shrubs as well). It has become very common in my area, at least on commercial properties like malls and other business or institutional sites. But some residential neighborhoods have rather much of it also.

Perhaps you could show those berries, Jeannie? And perhaps a more in focus shot of the blooms, with something to show scale?

Also check that any images you find are definitely of Malpighia glabra, aka Wild Crape Myrtle, and not Malpighia emarginata, aka Barbados Cherry. The fruit of M glabra are smaller.

Oh....Thanks for explaining Embothrium. Well it is next to the parking lot and the other side, there's a sidewalk.

Floral, It's at a church and all I have is an old Iphone to take pics and the closer I get to subject, the blurrier it gets.

Do you know if the small berries have seeds to germinate? I pulled a few berries off weeks ago and they are all shriveled now and I'm not sure if there's seeds in it or not. The berries were the size of a small pea. I can take a picture of the dried berries!

Thanks, Jeannie :)

why not just open a berry and find out if there are any seed in it .... you know where to get more ...

Since it's in flower at this tme local retailers might be displaying the same kind, with labeling.

The shrub didn't have many berries, so I will watch for more, but not sure if there will be any.

I did take apart one of the dried up ones....thinking they had to dry to remove seeds to store until spring.