BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Gaylussacia baccata | Black Huckleberry 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Black huckleberry is a native, deciduous, upright shrub with a profusely
and stiffly branched dense crown [39,48,52].  At maturity, it reaches 1
to 4 feet (0.3-1.2 m) in height [52].  The fruit is a fleshy drupe
containing around 10 seeds [4,52].

Aerial stems arise from branched rhizomes to form extensive black
huckleberry clones [33,39].  The stems are usually 12 to 48 inches
(30-122 cm) apart on the rhizomes.  The woody rhizomes are usually 0.25
to 0.75 inches (0.6-1.9 cm) in diameter, but may be larger.  They are
generally confined to the humus layer and the top 1 inch (2.5 cm) of
soil.  If no humus layer exists, rhizomes are 2 to 3 inches (5.1 to 7.6
cm) deep in the soil.  Fibrous roots occur at the base of each aerial
stem.  Larger roots are generally confined to the same layers as the
rhizomes, but may extend as deep as 8 inches (20 cm) [27].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Geophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Black huckleberry regenerates by vegetative reproduction and seed.

Existing black huckleberry colonies extend their range and reproduce
after disturbance primarily by sprouting from rhizomes [19,39].  In the
New Jersey pine barrens, black huckleberry averaged 36.2 dormant buds
per 3.9 inches (10 cm) of rhizome [31].  Destruction of aboveground
stems stimulates sprouting [19,32].  A stem may grow up to 8 inches (20
cm) in height in the first growing season [39].  In a clearing dominated
by shrubs, a black huckleberry clone averaged 7.5 inches (19 cm) of
radial expansion a year [36].

Although seedlings are rare [19,31,39], black huckleberry may colonize
new sites by seed.  Fruit production begins when black huckleberry stems
are 3 years old [19].  Heavy crops are produced occasionally [41].
Animals eat the berries, thereby dispersing the seeds [19,21].  Black
huckleberry may be self sterile [19].  Germination capacity increases
with stratification [4,55].  Warm stratification for 30 days followed by
incubation at cold temperatures enhances germination [55].  In an oak
woods in which black huckleberry dominated the shrub layer, black
huckleberry seeds were not found in the seedbank by either germination
or visual search methods [42].


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Black huckleberry grows on a variety of sites from moist woodlands,
thickets, and bogs to dry rocky slopes and stable coastal dunes
[13,22,41,52].  It grows at sea level and in mountainous sites
approaching 4,000 feet (1,220 m) in elevation in the southern
Appalachian Mountains [13,54].

Black huckleberry grows in acidic, coarse textured, low nutrient soils
which are well drained [1,19,39,53].  It is common on sandy outwash
plains of glaciated areas in the northeastern United States [1,53].
Black huckleberry often grows in shallow soils overlying noncalcareous
bedrock or hardpan [9,40,47,48].  Because of its requirement for acidic
soils, it is rarely found in soil derived from calcareous rock [5].

In heathlands, black huckleberry is associated with pan development
[47].  In Nova Scotia, dense black huckleberry communities occupy
healthlands where the hardpan is more than 13.8 inches (35 cm) beneath
the surface [48].

Black huckleberry occurs in mature, consolidated, ombrotrophic bogs
[11,29,41].  In raised bogs along the Bay of Fundy, black huckleberry
occupies well-drained, dry sites where the watertable is generally about
16 inches (41 cm) beneath the surface [10].


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Facultative Seral Species

Black huckleberry invaded stable black oak dunes in Indiana after a
humus layer had developed and soils were well leached [37].

Black huckleberry is intermediate in shade tolerance [19,26].  It
frequently grows under open pine and oak canopies and forms dense shrub
layers in canopy gaps and clearings [26,33,36].  Once established, black
huckleberry tolerates deep shade for a short time but growth is
inhibited.  As spruce (Picea spp.) and fir (Abies spp.) replace pine and
oak in the canopy, black huckleberry declines [30].  Shrub-carr
communities in central New York which include black huckleberry
represent an intermediate stage of succession between wet meadows and
wet forests [28].

Once established, dense thickets of black huckleberry resist invasion by
trees [30,36,47,48].  With periodic fire, black huckleberry heath
communities in Nova Scotia are very stable [47].


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Leaf bud break and flowering of black huckleberry begin as early as May.
Flowering continues through June.  Fruits begin to mature by the end of
July and remain on the plant until September [16,19,39].

Related categories for Species: Gaylussacia baccata | Black Huckleberry