Mountain Black Huckleberry

Family Name: Ericaceae

Heath Family

Latin Name: Vaccinium membranaceum

(Also Known As): V. globulare, V. myrtilloides, V. coccineum

Common Names: Blue Huckleberry, black huckleberry, mountain huckleberry, thinleaf huckleberry, big huckleberry, globe huckleberry, dampwoods blueberry, mountain bilberry

Related Species: V. membranaceum var. rigidum, V. ovalifolium, V. caespitosum, V. scoparium, V. myrtillus

Body System Affiliations:

1. Cardio-vascular System

2. Digestive System

3. Musculo-skeletal System

Botanical Description:

Habit: Deciduous Shrub – Perennial

Size: 0.1 - 1.5 m, may be 15 cm (6”) tall near timberline (1:110)

Arrangement: Alternate

Leaves: 1.3-5 cm, thin, ovate-oblong or elliptic-obovate, pointed tip, margins finely toothed

Flowers: 5-6 mm long, creamy pink to yellow-pink, urn-shaped

Fruit: 6-8 mm reddish black or deep blue to purplish black berries without bloom, high in vitamin C

Bark: young branches yellowish-green, older branches greyish with shredding bark

Twigs: yellowish-green when young, slightly angled, sometimes twisting

Underground Parts: rhizomatous

Ecology:

Habitat: Sandy to gravelly soil in thickets, woodland edges, montaine slopes, subalpine meadows and coniferous understory at mid to high elevations

Range: Alaska and British Columbia south, in Cascades and Olympics, to California, east to Idaho and Montana

Native Where: British Columbia, AZ, CA, CO, ID, MI, MN, MT, OR, SD, UT, WA, WY (2:1)

Ecological Relationships: Depending upon environmental constraints/conditions, big huckleberry may occur as a dominant understory species with Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii), western larch (Larix occidentalis), limber pine (Pinus flexilis), ponderosa pine (P. ponderosa), lodgepole pine (P. contorta), western white pine (P. monticola), western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla), mountain hemlock (T. mertensiana). Pacific silver fir (Abies amabilis), subalpine fir (A. lasiocarpa), noble fir (A. procera), white fir (A. concolor), grand fir (A. grandis), Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), and western redcedar (Thuja plicata),sticky flowering currant (Ribes viscosissimum), mountain snowberry (Symphoricarpos oreophilus), common snowberry (S. albus), grouse whortleberry (Vaccinium scoparium), Cascade bilberry (V. deliciosum), red huckleberry (V. parvifolium), Utah honeysuckle (Lonicera utahensis), bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi), fool's huckleberry (Menziesia ferruginea), white spirea (Spirea betulifolia), whiteveined wintergreen (Pyrola picta), pink mountainheath (Phyllodoce empetriformis), Cascade azalea (Rhododendron albiflorum), Sitka mountain-ash (Sorbus sitchensis), western moss-heather (Cassiope mertensiana), strawberryleaf raspberry (Rubus pedatus), roughfruit berry (R. lasiococcus), little prince's pine (Chimaphila menziesii), Rocky Mountain maple (Acer glabrum), Pacific dogwood (Cornus nuttallii), Oregon-grape (Mahonia repens), common beargrass (Xerophyllum tenax), Brewer's aster (Chrysopsis breweri), pinewoods lousewort (Pedicularis semibarbata), fireweed (Epilobium angustifolium), Sitka valerian (Valeriana sitchensis), queencup beadlily (Clintonia uniflora), twinflower (Linnaea borealis), lupine (Lupinus spp.), Pacific trillium (Trillium ovatum), and threeleaf foamflower (Tiarella trifoliata). and is found to have mycorrhizal symbiosis (3:4, 4:83)

Personal Observation of Locations Observed, Dates and Description of Plants:

Western (European-American) Uses/Relationships:

Food: Eaten raw or made into jams, muffins or pies (5:72-73)

Materials/Technology: None found

Medicine:

Part Used: Leaves

Medicinal Actions: Tea helps lowers blood sugar, also treats alkaline pH cystitis (4:86)

Indications: Type I diabetes in juvenile onset; UTI (5:86)

Body System Associations:

1. Cardio-vascular System
2. Digestive System

Applications: Infusion

Preparation:

Infusion: boil two cups of water

place one ounce of dried leaves in a pot

pour boiled water over leaves

cover and steep fifteen minutes

strain the tea and drink (7:43)

Pharmacy:

Infusion: Three to four ounce dose up to three times a day (5:86)

Cautions: In case of hypoglycemia, eat something (5:87)

Indigenous and Non-Western Use/Significance/Relationships:

Food: The Kwakwaka’wakw cooked berries with salmon roe (6:57)

Materials/Technology: The Sechelt used branches as fuel for smoke-drying berries (6:57)

Medicine:

Indigenous Group: The Flathead (8:583)

Part Used: Root

Indications: Rheumatism, arthritis and heart troubles

Applications: Infusion

Cautions: None found

***

Propagation:

Technique: Cut a 4- to 6-inch stem, apply rooting hormone, insert in peat and perlite (equal parts) and mist frequently. Bottom heat helps rooting which takes about 14 weeks (9:188). Seeds should be sewn in a greenhouse only just covered with soil mixture and grown in a lightly shaded position for the first winter (10).

Timing: Seeds should be sewn in the fall. Softwood cuttings can be taken in late June (9:188).

Harvest:

Plant Part: Berry

Season of Harvest: Late summer and early fall

Method of Harvest: Pick directly from plant

Cautions: None found.

Personal Experience (see below)

Plant Part: Leaves

Season of Harvest: Summer and early fall

Method of Harvest: Harvest while still green; dry in bundles (4:83)

Cautions: None found

Personal Experience (see below)

Other Notes of Interest: flowers are pollinated by bees, plant highly drought resistent, is of low flammability and benefits from burn management techniques (3:7)

***

References Cited:

1. Lyons, C.P. and Bill Merilees. Trees, Shrubs & Flowers to Know in Washington & British Columbia. Redmond, Washington: Lone Pine Publishing, 1995.

2. Author Unknown. United States Department of Agriculture Plant Database. Online at http://plants.usda.gov. Visited 1-10-2010.

3. Simononim, Kevin A. 2000. Species: Vaccinium membranaceum. Online at http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis. Visited 1-10-2010.

4. Moore, Michael. Medicinal Plants of the Pacific West. Santa Fe, New Mexico: Red Crane Books, 1995.

5. Domico, Terry. Wild Harvest: Edible Plants of the Pacific Northwest. Blaine, WA: Hancock House Publishers, 2008.

6. Pojar, Jim and Andy MacKinnon. Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Auburn, WA: Lone Pine Publishing, 2004.

7. Tierra, Lesley. A Kid’s Herb Book for Children of all Ages. Bandon, OR: Robert D. Reed Publishers, 2009.

8. Moerman, Daniel E. Native American Ethnobotany. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press, 1998.

9. Pettinger, April with Brenda Costanzo. Native Plants in the Coastal Garden. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press, 2002.

10. Author Unknown. Plants for a Future. Online at http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Vaccinium+membranaceum. Visited 1-11-2010

11. Williams, Kim. Eating Wild Plants. Missoula, MT: Mountain Press Publishing Company, 1984.