Vaccinium membranaceum Douglas ex Torr.
black huckleberry (black blueberry; thinleaf huckleberry)
Ericaceae (Crowberry family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
black huckleberry (black blueberry; thinleaf huckleberry)
Ericaceae (Crowberry family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Medium-sized shrub; stems erect to spreading, densely-branched, to 1.5 m tall; young twigs somewhat angled, yellow-green, glabrous or slightly hairy; old bark greyish and shredding.
Leaves:
Alternate, deciduous, egg-shaped to elliptic-oblong, 1.5-6 cm long, (0.6) 1-3 cm wide, gradually narrowing to pointed tip, rounded to tapered at base, margins finely toothed nearly full length, obscurely veined and not lustrous, sparsely glandular and somewhat paler on the lower surfaces.
Flowers:
Solitary in leaf axils, appearing when or after the leaves expand; flower stalks 5-10 mm long; corollas pale yellowish-pink, urn-shaped, 4-6 mm long, about 3/4 as wide; calyces shallowly lobed, lobes deciduous in fruit; filaments glabrous, shorter than anthers; anthers awned, with slender, terminal tubes.
Fruits:
Berries, globe-shaped, 7-10 mm wide, purple or dark purplish-reddish, without a pale bloom; edible and sweet.
Illustration
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
USDA Species Characteristics
Flower Colour:
Purple
Blooming Period:
Late Spring
Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Black
Present from Spring to Summer
Source: The USDA
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Vaccinium membranaceum
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
| Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
1302 | 0 | 2750 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
25 | 0 | 250 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
238 | 0 | 360 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
3 | 0 | 8 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
C | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
16273 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
ESSF | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
AT(18), bafa(8), BWBS(206), CMA(5), CWH(418), ESSF(6693), ICH(3684), IDF(298), IMA(3), MH(479), MS(935), PP(2), SBPS(110), SBS(2191), SWB(76) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Dry to moist forests and openings in the montane and subalpine zones; common throughout BC, except on the Queen Charlotte Islands; N to SE YT, E to AB, and S to ID, MT, and N CA.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Vaccinium coccineum Piper
Vaccinium membranaceum var. rigidum (Hook.) Fernald