Huckleberry

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

Nomenclature

The name 'huckleberry' is a North American variation of the English dialectal name variously called 'hurtleberry' or 'whortleberry' (/ˈhwɜːrtəlbɛri/) for the bilberry.^[1] 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 blueberries depending upon local custom, as in New England and parts of Appalachia.^[2]

Description

The plant has shallow, radiating roots topped by a bush growing from an underground stem. The berries are small and round, 5–10 millimetres (1⁄4–3⁄8 inch) in diameter, and look like large dark lowbush blueberries.^{[citation needed]}

Phytochemistry

Two huckleberry species, V. membranaceum and V. ovatum, were studied for phytochemical content, showing that V. ovatum had greater total polyphenol and anthocyanin content than did V. membranaceum. Each species contained 15 anthocyanins (galactoside, glucoside, and arabinoside of delphinidin, cyanidin, petunidin, peonidin, and malvidin), but in different proportions.^[3]

Taxonomy

Gaylussacia

Four species of huckleberries in the genus Gaylussacia are common in eastern North America, especially G. baccata, also known as the black huckleberry.^[2]

Vaccinium

From coastal Central California through Oregon to southern Washington and British Columbia, the red huckleberry (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 (V. membranaceum) and blue (Cascade) huckleberry (V. deliciosum), grow in various habitats, such as mid-alpine regions up to 3,500 metres (11,500 feet) above sea level, mountain slopes, forests, or lake basins. The plant grows best in damp, acidic soil having volcanic origin, attaining under optimal conditions heights of 1.5 to 2 m (5 to 6+1⁄2 ft), usually ripening in mid-to-late summer or later at high elevations.^[2] Huckleberry was one of the few plant species to survive on the slopes of Mount St. Helens when the volcano erupted in 1980, and existed as a prominent mountain-slope bush in 2017.^[4]

Where the climate is favorable, certain species of huckleberry, such as V. membranaceum, V. parvifolium and V. deliciosum, are used in ornamental plantings.^[2] The 'garden huckleberry' (Solanum scabrum) is not a true huckleberry, but is instead a member of the nightshade family.^{[citation needed]}

Distribution and habitat

Huckleberry in the east is native to Eastern Canada and the Great Lakes region, the Midwestern and Northeastern United States, and the Appalachian Mountains, the Ohio/Mississippi/Tennessee Valley, and Southeastern United States.^[5]

Huckleberry grows wild in northwestern United States and western Canada on subalpine slopes, forests, bogs, and lake basins.^[6]

Uses

Huckleberries were traditionally collected by Native American and First Nations people along the Pacific coast, interior British Columbia, Idaho, and Montana for use as food or traditional medicine.^[2]^[7]^[8] In taste, they may be tart or sweet.^{[citation needed]} The fruit is versatile in foods or beverages, including jam, pudding, candy, pie, ice cream, muffins, pancakes, salad dressings, juice, tea, soup, and syrup.^[2]^[8]

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.^[6]^[9]

In popular culture

Huckleberries hold a place in archaic American English slang. The phrase, "I'm your huckleberry", is a way of expressing either affection or that one is just the right person for a given role.^[10] Regarding the latter, an 1872 newspaper editorial claimed "the slang slingers will pilfer our 'unabridged Webster' away from us, word by word, phrase by phrase, until we have nothing left'.

Instead of assuring a friend that he may depend upon us in such words as, "We will gladly render you any assistance in our power," we find it handy to exclaim "I'm your huckleberry."^[11]

The range of slang meanings of huckleberry in the 19th century was broad, also referring to significant or nice persons.^[12]^[13]

Fictional characters including Huckleberry "Huck" Finn, from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884) by Mark Twain, and Huckleberry "Huck" Hound, an animated anthropomorphic Bluetick Coonhound created by Hanna-Barbera in 1958, have incorporated "huckleberry" into their names to indicate their rustic or insignificant nature.^[14]

The huckleberry is the state fruit of Idaho and Montana.^[15]^[16]