Chapter 7: Small Fruits and Brambles


Chapter 7: Small Fruits and Brambles


HUCKLEBERRY

Gaylussacia spp., family Ericaceae

There are more than 40 species of U.S. huckleberries. In general appearance, they are so similar to blueberries that the common names are sometimes interchanged (fig. 117). The important difference between the two is in the ripe fruit. The huckleberry has 10 relatively large bony seeds that makes the fruit objectionable for some people to eat, whereas the blueberry may have as many as 65 seeds, but they are small and not objectionable (Darrow and Moore 1962, Eck and Childers 1966). Huckleberries are not usually cultivated. The fruit is harvested from wild plants in some areas and sold locally for use in pies.

From an economic standpoint, the value of huckleberries harvested and sold, although unknown, is unquestionably not great. The fruit is of considerable value to wildlife, and the flowers a source of pollen and nectar for bees.

[gfx] FIGURE 117. - Huckelberry bush, with mature fruit.

Plant:

Three species of huckleberries are of particular interest: the black or common huckleberry (G. baccata (Wang.) K. Koch), the box huckleberry (G. brachycera (Michx.) Gray), and the dwarf huckleberry (G. dumosa (Andr.) T. & G.) (Jannson 1947).

Where the black or the dwarf huckleberries occur in conjunction with the lowbush blueberry, they are considered a weed and destroyed because of the objectionable large seeds and black fruit (Phipps 1930).

From a botanical point of view, the box huckleberry is the most famous. Adams (1949) described one plant (colony) "estimated to be 13,000 years old, unquestionably the oldest thing alive on earth." (See also Mickalitis 1952.) The age is apparently more in reference to the colony than to any specific axis cross section.

The black huckleberry occurs from the Atlantic Coast west to Wisconsin and south to Louisiana. It is about 3 feet tall, much branched, with dotted leaves, slender reddish flowers, and black fruit.

The box huckleberry forms a low, dark-green carpet 2 feet high, has pinkish flowers, light-blue fruit, and spreads up to 6 inches per year by underground runners.

The dwarf huckleberry is a low plant, usually 1 to 2 feet tall, that bears long, white flower clusters. It yields large quantities of 1/4 -to l/3- inch black huckleberries that are used primarily in pies.

Inflorescence:

The 1/4 - to l/2 -inch flowers of the huckleberry are white to reddish and in axillary racemes. The tubular calyx is five-lobed, with 10 stamens surrounding a single stigma. Nectar is secreted at the base of the corolla. The flowers are attractive to bees for both their nectar and pollen.

Pollination Requirements:

The box huckleberry is self-sterile. When cross-pollinated within the clone, only nonviable seed is produced. Viable seed develop only if pollen is transferred from the anthers of one clone to the stigma of another (Adams 1949). Little is known about the pollination requirements of the black or dwarf huckleberries, but because of the similarity of the blueberry and huckleberry flowers in many other respects, future studies will probably establish that the pollination requirements are also similar.

Pollinators:

Honey bees are attracted to huckleberry flowers and are probably the primary pollinating agents under most conditions. Currently, there is no known pollination problem because the plants usually grow in the wild state, and the potential versus actual production as a result of insect pollination is unknown.

Pollination Recommendations and Practices:

None.

LITERATURE CITED:

ADAMS, J. W.

1949. THE UNIQUE BOX HUCKLEBERRY (GAYLUSSACIA BRACHYCERA). Plants and Gard. (n.s.) 5: 166-168. DARROW, G. M., and MOORE, J. N. 1962. BLUEBERRY GROWING U.S. Dept. Agr. Farmers' Bul. 1951, 33 pp. ECK, P., and CHILDERS, N. F. 1966. BLUEBERRY CULTURE. 378 pp. Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, N.J. JANNSON, K. P. 1947. HUCKLEBERRIES, EDIBLE AND ORNAMENTAL. Plants and Gard. (N.S.) 3(1): 39-40.

MICKALITIS, A. B.1952. BOX HUCKELBERRY (G. BRACHYCERA) MOST UNIQUE SHRUB NATIVE TO PENNSYLVANIA. Forests and Waters 4: 45.

PHIPPS, C. R. 1930. BLUEBERRY AND HUCKELBERRY INSECTS. Maine Agr. Expt. Sta. Bul. 356: 107-232.


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