Huckleberry is a name used in North America for several plants in the family Ericaceae, in two closely related genera: Vaccinium and Gaylussacia .
Huckleberry is a name used in North America for several plants in the family Ericaceae, in two closely related genera: Vaccinium and Gaylussacia .
The name 'huckleberry' is a North American variation of the English dialectal name variously called 'hurtleberry' or 'whortleberry' ( /ˈhwɜːrtəlbɛri/ ) for the bilberry. [1] In North America, the name was applied to numerous plant variations, all bearing small berries with colors that may be red, blue, or black. [2] It is the common name for various Gaylussacia species, and some Vaccinium species, such as Vaccinium parvifolium , the red huckleberry, and is also applied to other Vaccinium species which may also be called blueberries depending upon local custom, as in New England and parts of Appalachia. [2]
The plant has shallow, radiating roots topped by a bush growing from an underground stem.
The berries are small and round, 5–10 millimetres (1⁄4–3⁄8 inch) in diameter, and look like large dark lowbush blueberries.
Two huckleberry species, V. membranaceum and V. ovatum, were studied for phytochemical content, showing that V. ovatum had greater total anthocyanin and polyphenols than did V. membranaceum. [3] Each species contained 15 anthocyanins (galactoside, glucoside, and arabinoside of delphinidin, cyanidin, petunidin, peonidin, and malvidin) but in different proportions. [3]
Four species of huckleberries in the genus Gaylussacia are common in eastern North America, especially G. baccata, also known as the black huckleberry. [2]
From coastal Central California through Oregon to southern Washington and British Columbia, the red huckleberry ( V. parvifolium ) is found in the maritime-influenced plant community. In the Pacific Northwest and mountains of Montana and Idaho, this huckleberry species and several others, such as the black Vaccinium huckleberry ( V. membranaceum ) and blue (Cascade) huckleberry ( V. deliciosum ), grow in various habitats, such as mid-alpine regions up to 3,500 metres (11,500 feet) above sea level, mountain slopes, forests, or lake basins. [2] The plant grows best in damp, acidic soil having volcanic origin, attaining under optimal conditions heights of 1.5 to 2 m (5 to 6+1⁄2 ft), usually ripening in mid-to-late summer or later at high elevations. [2] Huckleberry was one of the few plant species to survive on the slopes of Mount St. Helens when the volcano erupted in 1980, and existed as a prominent mountain-slope bush in 2017. [4]
Where the climate is favorable, certain species of huckleberry, such as V. membranaceum, V. parvifolium and V. deliciosum, are used in ornamental plantings. [2] The 'garden huckleberry' ( Solanum scabrum ) is not a true huckleberry, but is instead a member of the nightshade family.[ citation needed ]
Huckleberry grows wild in northwestern United States and western Canada on subalpine slopes, forests, bogs, and lake basins. [5]
Huckleberries were traditionally collected by Native American and First Nations people along the Pacific coast, interior British Columbia, Idaho, and Montana for use as food or traditional medicine. [2] [6] [7] In taste, they may be tart, with large bitter seeds.[ citation needed ] The fruit is versatile in foods or beverages, including jam, pudding, candy, pie, ice cream, muffins, pancakes, salad dressings, juice, tea, soup, and syrup. [2] [7]
Attempts to cultivate huckleberry plants from seeds have failed, with plants devoid of fruits. This may be due to the inability of the plants to fully root and replicate the native soil chemistry of wild plants. [5] [8]
Huckleberries hold a place in archaic American English slang. The phrase "a huckleberry over my persimmon" was used to mean "a bit beyond my abilities". On the other hand, "I'm your huckleberry" is a way of expressing affection or that one is just the right person for a given role. [9] The range of slang meanings of huckleberry in the 19th century was broad, also referring to significant or nice persons. [10] [11] The term can also be a slang expression for a rube or an amateur, or a mild expression of disapproval.[ citation needed ] Fictional characters including Huckleberry "Huck" Finn, from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884) by Mark Twain, and Huckleberry "Huck" Hound, an animated anthropomorphic Bluetick Coonhound created by Hanna-Barbera in 1958, have incorporated "huckleberry" into their names to indicate their rustic or insignificant nature. [12]
The huckleberry is the state fruit of Idaho and Montana. [13] [14]
Country singer Toby Keith co-wrote a song with songwriter Chuck Cannon entitled "Huckleberry", about a primary school crush that turns into marriage later in life and they have three "little huckleberries" of their own, and is part of his album Unleashed (2002). [15]
Vaccinium is a common and widespread genus of shrubs or dwarf shrubs in the heath family (Ericaceae). The fruits of many species are eaten by humans and some are of commercial importance, including the cranberry, blueberry, bilberry (whortleberry), lingonberry (cowberry), and huckleberry. Like many other ericaceous plants, they are generally restricted to acidic soils.
Bilberries or blueberries are primarily Eurasian low-growing shrubs in the genus Vaccinium, bearing edible, dark blue berries. The species most often referred to is Vaccinium myrtillus L., but there are several other closely related species.
Xerophyllum asphodeloides is a North American species of flowering plants in the Melanthiaceae known by the common names turkey beard, eastern turkeybeard, beartongue, grass-leaved helonias, and mountain asphodel. It is native to the eastern United States, where it occurs in the southern Appalachian Mountains from Virginia to Alabama, and also in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey.
Gaylussacia is a genus of about fifty species of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae, native to the Americas, where they occur in eastern North America and in South America in the Andes and the mountains of southeastern Brazil. Common English names include huckleberry and "dangleberry".
Vaccinium corymbosum, the northern highbush blueberry, is a North American species of blueberry which has become a food crop of significant economic importance. It is native to eastern Canada and the eastern and southern United States, from Ontario east to Nova Scotia and south as far as Florida and eastern Texas. It is also naturalized in other places: Europe, Japan, New Zealand, the Pacific Northwest of North America, etc. Other common names include blue huckleberry, tall huckleberry, swamp huckleberry, high blueberry, and swamp blueberry.
Vaccinium myrtilloides is a shrub with common names including common blueberry, velvetleaf huckleberry, velvetleaf blueberry, Canadian blueberry, and sourtop blueberry. It is common in much of North America, reported from all 10 Canadian provinces plus Nunavut and Northwest Territories, as well as from the northeastern and Great Lakes states in the United States. It is also known to occur in Montana and Washington.
Vaccinium darrowii, with the common names Darrow's blueberry, evergreen blueberry, scrub blueberry, is a species of Vaccinium in the blueberry group.
Vaccinium parvifolium, the red huckleberry, is a species of Vaccinium native to western North America.
Vaccinium ovatum is a North American species of flowering shrub known by the common names evergreen huckleberry, winter huckleberry, cynamoka berry and California huckleberry. Vaccinium ovatum is classified in phylum: Magnoliaphyta, order: Ericales, family: Ericaceae, genus: Vaccinium, and species: ovatum.
A number of plants in the genus Vaccinium share the common name Evergreen blueberry:
Blueberry is a widely distributed and widespread group of perennial flowering plant with blue or purple berries. They are classified in the section Cyanococcus within the genus Vaccinium. Vaccinium also includes cranberries, bilberries, huckleberries and Madeira blueberries. Commercial blueberries—both wild (lowbush) and cultivated (highbush)—are all native to North America. The highbush varieties were introduced into Europe during the 1930s.
Huckleberry is a common name used in North America for several species of plants.
Gaylussacia brachycera, commonly known as box huckleberry or box-leaved whortleberry, is a low North American shrub related to the blueberry and the other huckleberries. It is native to the east-central United States.
Gaylussacia baccata, the black huckleberry, is a common huckleberry found throughout a wide area of eastern North America.
Vaccinium deliciosum is a species of bilberry known by the common names Cascade bilberry, Cascade blueberry, and blueleaf huckleberry.
Vaccinium membranaceum is a species within the group of Vaccinium commonly referred to as huckleberry. This particular species is known by the common names thinleaf huckleberry, tall huckleberry, big huckleberry, mountain huckleberry, square-twig blueberry, and (ambiguously) as "black huckleberry".
Gaylussacia dumosa is a species of flowering plant in the heath family known by the common names dwarf huckleberry, bush huckleberry, and gopherberry. It is native to eastern North America from Newfoundland to Louisiana and Florida. It occurs along the coastal plain and in the mountains.
Gaylussacia frondosa is a species of flowering plant in the heath family known by the common names dangleberry and blue huckleberry. It is native to the eastern United States, where it occurs from New Hampshire to South Carolina.
