Huckleberry is a name used in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

for several plants in the family Ericaceae, in two closely related genera: ''Vaccinium'' and ''Gaylussacia''. The huckleberry is the state fruit of Idaho.

Nomenclature

The name 'huckleberry' is a North American variation of the English dialectal name variously called 'hurtleberry' or 'whortleberry' () for the Vaccinium myrtillus, bilberry. In North America, the name was applied to numerous plant variations, all bearing small berries with colors that may be red, blue, or black. 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 blueberry, blueberries depending upon local custom, as in New England and parts of Appalachia.

Taxonomy

''Gaylussacia''

Four species of huckleberries in the genus ''Gaylussacia'' are common in eastern North America, especially Gaylussacia baccata, ''G. baccata'', also known as the black huckleberry.

''Vaccinium''

From coastal Central California through Oregon to southern Washington (state), Washington and British Columbia, the red huckleberry (''Vaccinium parvifolium, 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 (''Vaccinium membranaceum, V. membranaceum'') and blue (Cascade) huckleberry (''Vaccinium deliciosum, V. deliciosum''), grow in various habitats, such as mid-alpine climate, alpine regions up to above sea level, mountain slopes, forests, or lake drainage basin, basins. The plant grows best in damp, acidic soil having volcanic origin, attaining under optimal conditions heights of , usually ripening in mid-to-late summer or later at high elevations. Huckleberry was one of the few plant species to survive on the slopes of Mount St. Helens when the volcano 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, erupted in 1980, and existed as a prominent mountain-slope bush in 2017. Where the climate is favorable, certain species of huckleberry, such as ''V. membranaceum'', ''V. parvifolium'' and ''V. deliciosum'', are used in ornamental plantings. The 'garden huckleberry' (''Solanum scabrum'') is not a true huckleberry, but is instead a member of the Solanaceae, nightshade family.

Habitat and cultivation

Huckleberries grow wild on subalpine slopes, forests, bogs, and lake basins of the northwestern United States and western Canada. The plant has shallow, radiating roots topped by a bush growing from an underground stem. 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.

Use as food or traditional medicine

Huckleberries were traditionally collected by Native Americans in the United States, Native American and First Nations in Canada, First Nations people along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific coast, interior British Columbia, Idaho, and Montana for use as food or traditional medicine. The berries are small and round, in diameter, and look like large dark blueberries. In taste, they may be tart, with a flavor similar to that of a blueberry, especially in blue- and purple-colored varieties and some have noticeably larger, bitter (taste), bitter seeds. The fruit is versatile in various foods or beverages, including jam, pudding, candy, pie, ice cream, muffins, pancakes, Salad, salad dressings, juice, tea, soup, and syrup.

Phytochemicals

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''. Each species contained 15 anthocyanins (galactoside, glucoside, and arabinoside of delphinidin, cyanidin, petunidin, peonidin, and malvidin) but in different proportions.

In popular culture

Huckleberry Finn, Huckleberry "Huck" Finn is a fictional character in the books ''The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'' (1876) and ''Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' (1884), by American author and humorist, Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens). Huckleberry Finn was portrayed to be about 12 or 13 years old, derived from Twain's boyhood friend, Huckleberry Finn#Inspiration, Tom Blankenship, as "ignorant, unwashed, insufficiently fed; but he had as good a heart as ever any boy had. His liberties were totally unrestricted. He was the only really independent person—boy or man—in the community, and by consequence, he was tranquilly and continuously happy and envied by the rest of us." The cartoon character that shares the same name as Mark Twain's character is Huckleberry Hound, Huckleberry "Huck" Hound, an anthropomorphic Bluetick Coonhound created by Hanna-Barbera in 1958, in which the term "huckleberry" can be a slang expression for a rube or an amateur, or a mild expression of disapproval. 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." "I'm your huckleberry" is a way of saying that one is just the right person for a given job. The range of slang meanings of huckleberry in the 19th century was broad, also referring to significant persons or nice persons.Huckleberry
Douglas Harper, ''Online Etymology Dictionary'', 2001

References

{{Non-timber forest products Berries Ericaceae Garden plants of North America Non-timber forest products Plant common names Plants used in Native American cuisine Symbols of Idaho