Vaccinium membranaceum

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Vaccinium membranaceum
Mountain Huckleberry (14891540149).jpg
Status TNC G5.svg
Secure  (NatureServe) [1]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Ericales
Family: Ericaceae
Genus: Vaccinium
Species:
V. membranaceum
Binomial name
Vaccinium membranaceum
Douglas ex Torr. 1874
Synonyms [2]
  • Vaccinium globulareRydberg
  • Vaccinium membranaceum var. rigidum(Hooker) Fernald

Vaccinium membranaceum is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae, known by the common names thinleaf huckleberry, tall huckleberry, big huckleberry, mountain huckleberry, square-twig blueberry, and ambiguously as "black huckleberry".

Contents

Distribution and habitat

Vaccinium membranaceum is native to western North America, with a range extending in the northern from southern Alaska, Yukon, and Northwest Territories south as far as Utah and the northern mountains of California. It can be found from the mountains next to the Pacific Ocean in the west, to the Rocky Mountains and Black Hills in the east. [3]

Isolated populations of this species have been found in Arizona, North Dakota, Minnesota, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and Ontario. [4] [5]

Vaccinium membranaceum grows at higher elevations in subalpine and alpine environments. It occurs in both pine and spruce dominated forests and in open meadow ecosystems. In forests V. membranaceum often dominates the forest understory during early to mid stages of succession. [6] Vaccinium membranceum is fire adapted. The leaves and stems of the huckleberry are resistant to low-intensity fires, and if burned away they will resprout vigorously from rhizomes buried under the soil. [6]

Description

Vaccinium membranaceum is an erect shrub growing up to 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) in maximum height. The new twigs are yellow-green and somewhat angled. The deciduous leaves are alternately arranged. The very thin to membranous, oval leaf blades are up to 5 centimeters (2 inches) long. The edges are serrated, with each tiny tooth tipped with a glandular hair. Solitary flowers occur in the leaf axils. Each is around 6 millimeters (1/4 inch) long, urn-shaped to cylindrical, and pale pink to waxy bronze in color. [2] Cytology is 2n = 48. [7]

They are pollinated by bees. [6] The mature fruit ranges from red through bluish-purple to a dark, almost black berry about a centimeter wide. Each fruit contains an average of 47 tiny seeds. [2] [6]

Reproduction

The plant rarely reproduces via seed, rather, it usually spreads by cloning itself from its rhizome or shoots. [6] The seeds do germinate if dispersed by animals, however, as evidenced by populations of the plant growing on the recovering section of Mount St. Helens. [8] Other than the study by Yang et al. (2008) reports of V. membranaceum sprouting from seed are quite rare with other scientists who have studied this species reporting only 6 seedlings observed during 18 years in the field. [9]

Uses

Vaccinium membranaceum is the species that is the most commonly collected of all of the wild western huckleberries, and it has great commercial importance. [2] In a good year Vaccinium membranaceum shrubs produce a lot of fruit. The amount of fruit produced by these shrubs is legendary, with stories being told of mountain sides turned purple by all of the fruit, or shrubs being weighed to the ground by large, and abundant berries [10]

Native Americans

Both humans and wildlife enjoy feasting on this fruit in the late summer and early fall. People have been eating the fruit of this species for thousands of years. It was and continues to be widely used for food by Native Americans. [2] The Kutenai called the black huckleberry shawíash (Ktunaxa: ǂawiyaǂ). [11] Alaska Natives consumed it in bread and pies as a source of vitamin C, the Coeur d'Alene people ate the fruit fresh, dried, mashed, cooked, and added it to soup or froze it for later use, and many other groups relished it and stored it frozen, dried, pressed into cakes, or canned for winter use. [12]

Wildlife

The plant also provides a key food source for black and grizzly bears, which eat the leaves, stems, roots, and fruit. [6] Elk, moose, and white-tailed deer also browse the plant. [6] The thickets provide cover for many species of small animals. [6]

Symbol

The huckleberry is the official state fruit of Idaho, with this particular species assumed to be the huckleberry in question. [13]

Management

Some Native American groups lit carefully planned controlled burns in wild huckleberry patches to promote fruit production by eliminating competing plants and by stimulating the huckleberry to sprout and spread. [6] Native American groups throughout the Pacific Northwest still utilize this plant as an important cultural food and are active in its management. [14]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Vaccinium</i> Genus of berry-producing shrubs in the heath family

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.

<i>Vaccinium corymbosum</i> Species of plant

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.

<i>Prunus andersonii</i> Species of shrub

Prunus andersonii is a species of shrub in the rose family, part of the same genus as the peach, cherry, and almond. Its common names include desert peach and desert almond. It is native to eastern California and western Nevada, where it grows in forests and scrub in desert and mountains. It was named after Charles Lewis Anderson by Asa Gray.

<i>Vaccinium ovatum</i> Berry and plant

Vaccinium ovatum is a North American species of huckleberry in the heather family commonly known as the evergreen huckleberry, winter huckleberry, cynamoka berry and California huckleberry. It has a large distribution on the Pacific Coast of North America ranging from southern British Columbia to southern California. It is a tall woody shrub that produces fleshy, edible berries in the summer. The plant is used for food, natural landscaping, and floral arrangements.

<i>Vaccinium cespitosum</i> Berry and plant

Vaccinium cespitosum, known as the dwarf bilberry, dwarf blueberry, or dwarf huckleberry, is a species of flowering shrub in the genus Vaccinium, which includes blueberries, huckleberries, and cranberries.

<i>Vaccinium stamineum</i> Species of flowering plant

Vaccinium stamineum, commonly known as deerberry, tall deerberry, highbush huckleberry, buckberry, and southern gooseberry, is a species of flowering plant in the heath family. It is native to North America, including Ontario, the eastern and central United States, and parts of Mexico. It is most common in the southeastern United States.

<i>Vaccinium ovalifolium</i> Species of flowering plant

Vaccinium ovalifolium is a plant in the heath family with three varieties, all of which grow in northerly regions.

<i>Gaylussacia baccata</i> Berry and plant

Gaylussacia baccata, the black huckleberry, is a common huckleberry found throughout a wide area of eastern North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Huckleberry</span> Berry and plant

Huckleberry is a name used in North America for several plants in the family Ericaceae, in two closely related genera: Vaccinium and Gaylussacia.

<i>Quercus turbinella</i> Species of plant

Quercus turbinella is a North American species of oak known by the common names shruboak, turbinella oak, shrub live oak, and gray oak. It is native to Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, and Nevada in the western United States. It also occurs in northern Mexico.

<i>Vaccinium caesariense</i> Berry and plant

Vaccinium caesariense is native to the Eastern United States. It is a species in the genus Vaccinium, which includes blueberries, cranberries, huckleberry, and bilberries.

<i>Symphoricarpos albus</i> Species of flowering plant

Symphoricarpos albus is a species of flowering plant in the honeysuckle family known by the common name common snowberry. Native to North America, it is browsed by some animals and planted for ornamental and ecological purposes, but is poisonous to humans.

<i>Vaccinium deliciosum</i> Species of flowering plant

Vaccinium deliciosum is a species of bilberry known by the common names Cascade bilberry, Cascade blueberry, and blueleaf huckleberry. It is a flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae.

<i>Vaccinium scoparium</i> Berry and plant

Vaccinium scoparium is a species of huckleberry known by the common names grouse whortleberry, grouseberry, and littleleaf huckleberry.

<i>Gaylussacia dumosa</i> Berry and plant

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.

<i>Gaylussacia frondosa</i> Berry and plant

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.

<i>Lyonia lucida</i> Species of flowering plant

Lyonia lucida is a species of flowering plant in the family Ericaceae known by the common names fetterbush lyonia, hurrahbush, and staggerbush. Other plants may also be called fetterbush. This broadleaved evergreen plant grows on the coastal plain of the southeastern United States from Virginia to Florida to Louisiana. It also occurs in Cuba.

<i>Rubus canadensis</i> Species of flowering plant

Rubus canadensis is a North American species of flowering plant in the rose family known by the common names smooth blackberry, Canadian blackberry, thornless blackberry and smooth highbush blackberry. It is native to central and eastern Canada and the eastern United States.

<i>Vaccinium myrsinites</i> Berry and plant

Vaccinium myrsinites is a species of flowering plant in the heath family known by the common name shiny blueberry. It is native to the southeastern United States from Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and Florida. It may occur as far west as Louisiana.

<i>Vaccinium pallidum</i> Berry and plant

Vaccinium pallidum is a species of flowering plant in the heath family known by the common names hillside blueberry, Blue Ridge blueberry, late lowbush blueberry, and early lowbush blueberry. It is native to central Canada (Ontario) and the central and eastern United States plus the Ozarks of Missouri, Arkansas, southeastern Kansas and eastern Oklahoma.

References

  1. ↑ NatureServe (2024). "Vaccinium membranaceum". Arlington, Virginia. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Flora of North America, Vaccinium membranaceum Douglas ex Torrey, 1874. Thinleaf huckleberry
  3. ↑ Biota of North America Program 2014 state-level distribution map
  4. ↑ VanderKloet, Sam (1988). The Genus Vaccinium in North America. Ottawa, ON: Research Branch, Agriculture Canada.
  5. ↑ Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 US Forest Service Fire Ecology
  7. ↑ Redpath, Lauren E.; Aryal, Rishi; Lynch, Nathan; Spencer, Jessica A.; Hulse-Kemp, Amanda M.; Ballington, James R.; Green, Jaimie; Bassil, Nahla; Hummer, Kim; Ranney, Thomas; Ashrafi, Hamid (2022). "Nuclear DNA contents and ploidy levels of North American Vaccinium species and interspecific hybrids". Scientia Horticulturae. 297. Elsevier BV: 110955. doi: 10.1016/j.scienta.2022.110955 . ISSN   0304-4238.
  8. ↑ Yang, S., et al. (2008). Colonization genetics of an animal-dispersed plant (Vaccinium membranaceum) at Mount St Helens, Washington. Molecular Genetics 17:3 731-40.
  9. ↑ Stark and Baker (1992). The Ecology and Culture of Montana Huckleberries: A guide for growers and researchers. Missoula, MT: University of Montana, School of Forestry.
  10. ↑ Bowen, Asta (1988). The Huckleberry Book.
  11. ↑ "FirstVoices- Ktunaxa. Plants: food plants: words" . Retrieved 2012-07-07.
  12. ↑ Ethnobotany, University of Michigan
  13. ↑ Netstate: Idaho State Fruit
  14. ↑ Martin, L. P., et al. (2008). Management and monitoring plan for the enhancement of big huckleberry in Government Meadows, Mt Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. USDA Forest Service.
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