Introductory
SPECIES: Gaylussacia dumosa | Dwarf Huckleberry 



ABBREVIATION : 
GAYDUM

SYNONYMS : 
NO-ENTRY


SCS PLANT CODE : 
   GADU


COMMON NAMES : 
   dwarf huckleberry
   bush huckleberry
   gopherberry


TAXONOMY : 
The currently accepted scientific name for dwarf huckleberry is
Gaylussacia dumosa (Andr.) Gray [11].  Two varieties based on
morphological differences have been recognized:  Bigelow dwarf
huckleberry (G. dumosa var.bigelow Fern.) and hairy huckleberry (G.
dumosa var. hirtella (Ait) Klotzsch) [24].


LIFE FORM : 
Shrub

FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS : 
No special status

OTHER STATUS : 
NO-ENTRY


COMPILED BY AND DATE : 
Milo Coladonato, June 1992


LAST REVISED BY AND DATE : 
NO-ENTRY


AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION : 
Coladonato, Milo 1992.  Gaylussacia dumosa.  In: Remainder of Citation

DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Gaylussacia dumosa | Dwarf Huckleberry 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION : 
Dwarf huckleberry is distributed along the coastal regions of
Newfoundland and Nova Scotia south to central Florida and east to
western Mississippi and central Tennessee.  Disjunct populations occur
in the mountains of West Virginia, southwestern North Carolina, and
western South Carolina [5,7,11,16].


ECOSYSTEMS : 
   FRES10  White - red - jack pine
   FRES11  Spruce - fir
   FRES12  Longleaf - slash pine
   FRES13  Loblolly - shortleaf pine
   FRES14  Oak - pine
   FRES15  Oak - hickory
   FRES16  Oak - gum - cypress


STATES : 
     AL  CT  DE  FL  GA  KY  LA  ME  MD  MA
     MS  NH  NJ  NY  PA  RI  SC  TN  VT  VA
     WV  NF  NS


ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS : 
     ACAD  BLRI  CACO  COSW  FIIS  FOCA
     HOBE  ROCR


BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS : 
NO-ENTRY


KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS : 
   K096  Northeastern spruce - fir forest
   K097  Southeastern spruce fir - forest
   K098  Northern floodplain forest
   K100  Oak - hickory forest
   K103  Mixed mesophytic forest
   K104  Appalachian oak forest
   K106  Northern hardwoods
   K110  Northeastern oak - pine forest
   K111  Oak - hickory - pine forest
   K112  Southern mixed forest
   K113  Southern floodpalin forest


SAF COVER TYPES : 
    5  Balsam fir
   21  Eastern white pine
   23  Eastern hemlock
   32  Red spruce
   35  Paper birch - red spruce - balsam fir
   40  Post oak - blackjack oak
   43  Bear oak
   44  Chestnut oak
   45  Pitch pine
   51  White pine - chestnut oak
   69  Sand pine
   70  Longleaf pine
   71  Longleaf pine - scrub oak
   72  Southern scrub oak
   75  Shortleaf pine
   76  Shortleaf pine - oak
   79  Virginia pine
   80  Loblolly pine - shortleaf pine
   82  Loblolly pine - hardwood
   83  Longleaf pine - slash pine
   84  Slash pine
   98  Pond pine


SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES : 
NO-ENTRY


HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES : 
NO-ENTRY

VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Gaylussacia dumosa | Dwarf Huckleberry 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
Mammals such as raccoon, gray fox, red fox, skunk, chipmunk, and
squirrel feed on the fruit of dwarf huckleberry [23,24].  Dwarf
huckleberry is also eaten by roughed grouse, wild turkey, and quail
[15].


PALATABILITY : 
NO-ENTRY


NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


COVER VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
NO-ENTRY


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
NO-ENTRY


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
NO-ENTRY

BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Gaylussacia dumosa | Dwarf Huckleberry 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Dwarf huckleberry is a small, deciduous, erect, much-branched,
rhizomatous shrub which grows from 12 to 30 inches (30-75 cm) in height
[7,11].  Many stems ascend from the base, forming a low, dense, rounded
crown.  The twigs are usually copiously pubescent with short, curly
hairs.  The small deciduous leaves are simple, leathery, obovate to
elliptical with the lower surface typically glandular.  The bell-shaped
tubular flowers are borne on racemes at the end of the branchlets.  The
fruit is a berry with 10 nutlets, each carrying one seed [11,23,24].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Phanerophyte (nanophanerophyte)
   Chamaephyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Dwarf huckleberry can reproduce through seed, although details have not
been described [12,14].  Seeds are dispersed by a variety of birds and
mammals [23,24].  Dwarf huckleberry sprouts from underground rhizomes or
runners after aboveground vegetation is removed by fire or other types
of disturbance [1,2,12].


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Dwarf huckleberry commonly grows in pine forest or pine barrens, and at
the edge of shrub-tree bogs, pitcher plant bogs, and bays [7,8,11].
Dwarf huckleberry grows on xeric to mesic sites with well-drained sandy
to clayey soils [11,15].

Common overstory associates of dwarf huckleberry include eastern red
cedar (Juniperus virginiana), tamarack (Larix laracina), redbay (Persea
borbonia), sweetbay (Magnolia virginia), and flowering dogwood (Cornus
florida).  Common understory associates include dangleberry (Gaylussacia
frondosa), yaupon (Ilex vomitoria), fetterbush (Leucothoe racemosa), and
blueberry (Vaccinium spp.)  [3,6,15,21].


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Fire is an integral part of pine barrens, pine flatwoods, and sand pine
scrub communities in which dwarf huckleberry grows [2].  These
communities have been described as "pyric disclimax" or fire climax
communities.  Fire in these communities does not initiate multistage
succession but instead rejuvenates species which were present in the
preburn community, such as dwarf huckleberry [4,13,19].


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Dwarf huckleberry flowers in early spring; the fruit ripens in late
summer or early fall [11].

FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Gaylussacia dumosa | Dwarf Huckleberry 



FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS : 
Dwarf huckleberry is well able to persist despite periodic fire [12,14].
Abrahamson [2] reports that dwarf huckleberry "exhibits a 'sit and wait'
strategy, in that plants apparently survive with little aboveground
biomass for long periods of time before fire causes release from shading
and/or nutrient depletion."  Dwarf huckleberry typically sprouts from
underground rhizomes after the foliage is consumed by fire [2].  Birds
and mammals may transport some seed to burned sites.


POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY : 
   survivor species; on-site surviving rhizomes
   off-site colonizer; seed carried by animals or water; postfire yr 1&2

FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Gaylussacia dumosa | Dwarf Huckleberry 



IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT : 
Fire typically kills aboveground portions of dwarf huckleberry [1,19].
Underground rhizomes are generally protected from the damaging effects
of heat and apparently survive most fires.  


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT : 
NO-ENTRY


PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE : 
Fire stimulates the growth of dwarf huckleberry [1,2].  Density and
cover of dwarf huckleberry reached peak levels 1 year after a January
prescribed burn in central Florida [2]

Plants will typically sprout from underground rhizomes after aboveground
vegetation is consumed [19].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE : 
NO-ENTRY


FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Fruit production of dwarf huckleberry was higher on burned sites than on
unburned sites [1,2].  Fire exclusion greatly reduced density and cover
of dwarf huckleberry on slash pine (Pinus elliottii) plantations in
Georgia [14]. 

REFERENCES
SPECIES: Gaylussacia dumosa | Dwarf Huckleberry 



REFERENCES : 

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       Ridge vegetation. American Journal of Botany. 71(1): 9-21.  [9509]

 .  Abrahamson, Warren G. 1984. Species response to fire on the Florida Lake
       Wales Ridge. American Journal of Botany. 71(1): 35-43.  [9608]

 .  Ash, A. N.; McDonald, C. B.; Kane, E. S.; Pories, C. A. 1983. Natural
       and modified pocosins: literature synthesis and management options.
       FWS/OBS-83/04. Washington, DC: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Division
       of Biological Sciences. 156 p.  [16178]

 .  Christensen, Norman L. 1988. Vegetation of the southeastern Coastal
       Plain. In: Barbour, Michael G.; Billings, William Dwight, eds. North
       American terrestrial vegetation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press:
       317-363.  [17414]

 .  Clewell, Andre F. 1985. Guide to the vascular plants of the Florida
       Panhandle. Tallahassee, FL: Florida State University Press. 605 p. 
       [13124]

 .  Conde, Louis F.; Swindel, Benee F.; Smith, Joel E. 1983. Plant species
       cover, frequency, and biomass: Early responses to clearcutting,
       chopping, and bedding in Pinus elliottii flatwoods. Forest Ecology and
       Management. 6: 307-317.  [9661]

 .  Duncan, Wilbur H.; Duncan, Marion B. 1987. The Smithsonian guide to
       seaside plants of the Gulf and Atlantic Coasts from Louisiana to
       Massachusetts, exclusive of lower peninsular Florida. Washington, DC:
       Smithsonian Institution Press. 409 p.  [12906]

 .  Wilson, Mark V. 1990. Estimating demographic rates of long-lived trees.
       Northwest Science. 64(4): 187-192.  [14560]

 .  Eyre, F. H., ed. 1980. Forest cover types of the United States and
       Canada. Washington, DC: Society of American Foresters. 148 p.  [905]

.  Garrison, George A.; Bjugstad, Ardell J.; Duncan, Don A.; [and others].
       1977. Vegetation and environmental features of forest and range
       ecosystems. Agric. Handb. 475. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
       Agriculture, Forest Service. 68 p.  [998]

.  Godfrey, Robert K. 1988. Trees, shrubs, and woody vines of northern
       Florida and adjacent Georgia and Alabama. Athens, GA: The University of
       Georgia Press. 734 p.  [10239]

.  Hon, Tip. 1981. Effects of prescribed fire on furbearers in the South.
       In: Wood, Gene W., ed. Prescribed fire and wildlife in southern forests:
       Proceedings of a symposium; 1981 April 6-8; Myrtle Beach, SC.
       Georgetown, SC: Clemson University, Belle W. Baruch Forest Science
       Institute: 121-128.  [14818]

.  Hartnett, David C.; Richardson, Donald R. 1989. Population biology of
       Bonamia grandiflora (Convolvulaceae): Effects of fire on plant and seed
       bank dynamics. American Journal of Botany. 76(3): 361-369.  [9647]

.  Johnson, A. Sydney; Landers, J. Larry. 1978. Fruit production in slash
       pine plantations in Georgia. Journal of Wildlife Management. 42(3):
       606-613.  [9855]

.  Jones, Steven M. 1990. Application of landscape ecosystem classification
       within the southeastern United States. In: Forestry on the frontier:
       Proceedings of the 1989 Society of American Foresters National
       Convention; 1989 September 24-27; Spokane, WA. Bethesda, MD: Society of
       American Foresters: 79-83.  [11566]

.  Keeler, Harriet L. 1969. Vacciniaceae--huckleberry family. In: Our
       northern shrubs and how to identify them. New York: Dover Publications,
       Inc.: 315-342.  [9272]

.  Kuchler, A. W. 1964. Manual to accompany the map of potential vegetation
       of the conterminous United States. Special Publication No. 36. New York:
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.  Lyon, L. Jack; Stickney, Peter F. 1976. Early vegetal succession
       following large northern Rocky Mountain wildfires. In: Proceedings, Tall
       Timbers fire ecology conference and Intermountain Fire Research Council
       fire and land management symposium; 1974 October 8-10; Missoula, MT. No.
       14. Tallahassee, FL: Tall Timbers Research Station: 355-373.  [1496]

.  Moore, William H.; Swindel, Benee F.; Terry, W. Stephen. 1982.
       Vegetative response to prescribed fire in a north Florida flatwoods
       forest. Journal of Range Management. 35(3): 386-389.  [9783]

.  Raunkiaer, C. 1934. The life forms of plants and statistical plant
       geography. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 632 p.  [2843]

.  Tanner, George W. 1987. Soils and vegetation of the longleaf/slash pine
       forest type, Apalachicola National Forest, Florida. In: Pearson, Henry
       A.; Smeins, Fred E.; Thill, Ronald E., compilers. Ecological, physical,
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Related categories for Species: Gaylussacia dumosa | Dwarf Huckleberry