BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Vaccinium parvifolium | Red Huckleberry 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Red huckleberry is an erect or somewhat straggling, small-to-large,
deciduous shrub which generally grows 6 to 12 feet (1.8-3.6 m) in height
[15,74,98,109].  This shrub is the tallest of western huckleberries
(Vaccinium spp.) [97] and on favorable sites, occasionally reaches 25
feet (7.6 m) [15].  Plants tend to be trailing and vinelike for the
first 4 to 5 years until assuming a more erect, mature growth form [15].
Shrubs also tend to become low and straggling in dense, shady,
old-growth stands [14].

Branches are slender, green, and sharply angled [15,101].  Branches may
develop a reddish tinge in the sun and generally turn grayish-brown with
age [89].  Stem morphology has been examined in considerable detail
[79].  The small, thin, deciduous leaves are oval or elliptic and obtuse
to rounded at both ends [15,48,74].  Leaves are entire, grayish or
bright to dull green and glaucous above, and glaucous or with very short
pubescence beneath [89,97,101,109].  Leaves of mature and juvenile
plants differ significantly.  Juvenile leaves are evergreen and finely
serrate, whereas mature leaves are deciduous and entire [32].  The
mature leaf form may not develop until the plant is 3 to 4 years old and
20 inches (50 cm) tall [15,109].

Urn-shaped flowers of red huckleberry are waxy, yellowish-pink, whitish,
or greenish-yellow [32,71,74].  Flowers are borne singly in the leaf
axils or in few-flowered clusters [3,60].  Floral morphology has been
studied in depth [82].  Fruit of the red huckleberry is a translucent,
bright red to pinkish, spherical berry [15,32,71] which averages 0.3
inch (8 mm) in diameter [99,109].  Red huckleberry is single-fruited
[71].  Each berry contains approximately 18 or 19 smooth, well-formed
reddish seeds or nutlets 0.04 to 0.05 inch (1-1.2 mm) in diameter
[74,99,109].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Phanerophyte
   Geophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Red huckleberry is capable of reproducing through seed or by vegetative
means.  Vegetative regeneration appears to be of primary importance in
most western huckleberries (Vaccinium spp.) [68], but unlike many
western huckleberries [68], seedling establishment may play a fairly
important role in the regeneration of red huckleberry [109].  Kruckeberg
[60] notes that seedlings are generally abundant wherever parent plants
occur.

Seed:  Red huckleberry seed is typically produced in abundance.  An
average shrub in British Columbia produced approximately 1,400 flowers
annually, of which nearly 90 percent set fruit [109].  Up to 25 percent
of the seeds ultimately germinated [109].

Huckleberry seedlings first emerge in approximately 1 month and continue
to emerge for long periods of time in the absence of cold stratification
[19].  Seeds of red huckleberry require no special treatment for
germination to occur [60].  Properly stored seed exhibited good
germination when exposed to alternating regimes of 14 hours of light at
82 degrees F (28 degrees C), and 10 hours of darkness at 56 degrees F
(13 degrees C) [99].  Fresh seed also germinated well under these
conditions and when treated under alternating temperatures of 71 degrees
F (22 degrees C) and 41 degrees F (5 degrees C) [99].

Seed disperal:  Seeds are readily dispersed by many birds and mammals
[47,60,92].  The digestive processes of animals may promote germination
[92].

Seedling establishment:  Establishment is favored on thick, acidic
forest floors which have a high water-holding capacity [57].
Germination on nurse logs is common [22,93] and may account for most
germination on some sites [22].  Approximately 7 percent of all seed
produced by red huckleberry eventually develops into vigorous seedlings
[109].

Vegetative regeneration:  Red huckleberry typically sprouts or "suckers"
after plants are damaged by fire, mechanical removal, or herbivory
[15,36,87,109].  Branch or stem sprouting is also common after fire or
herbivores remove much of the crown [15,36].  This shrub is rhizomatous
[41,71,91] and presumably sprouts from these underground portions after
aboveground portions are eliminated.  Rhizome spreading may allow for
clonal expansion even in the absence of disturbance.  Sprouting from
roots or "underground stems" has also been reported [2,7], although
these modes of vegetative regeneration have not been well documented.


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Red huckleberry grows in moist-to-dry conifer or mixed conifer-hardwood
forests, along roadsides, and in forest openings [94,101].  It is common
in lowlands, mountain valleys, on river terraces, alder (Alnus spp.)
flats, and lower mountain slopes [27,47,71].  Red huckleberry is
tolerant of sun or shade [98] and occurs in dense or open, submontane to
subalpine forests [58,60].  In many areas, it reaches greatest abundance
on mesic, south aspects with slopes of less than 45 percent [41].  Red
huckleberry commonly grows on mossy, rotting logs, snags, or stumps.
Seeds are frequently deposited on these sites by perching birds [44,60].
Plants have been observed growing on broken or sawed stumps up to 50
feet (15 m) off the ground [89].

Soil:  Most huckleberries (Vaccinium spp.) require acidic soils and can
grow on infertile sites which have relatively small amounts of many
essential elements [59].  Red huckleberry commonly grows on
nitrogen-poor soils [58].  Soils may be very nutrient poor to nutrient
rich [32] but are often characterized by accumulations of duff and humus
[97].  In southeastern Alaska, red huckleberry typically occurs on soils
with a pH of 4.0 to 5.0 [76,95].  Red huckleberry grows on soils derived
from a variety of parent materials including serpentine, quartz diorite,
diorite, and gabbro [103].  Soils are often stony and shallow [46].

Climate:  Red huckleberry is restricted to humid, mesothermal climatic
zones in British Columbia [57].  Along the coast of western Oregon it is
most commonly found in areas with a foggy maritime climate [42].  As
continental influences increase, this shrub decreases in abundance [58].

Elevation:  Red huckleberry grows from sea level to 5,000 feet (0-1,524
m) [97].  Generalized elevational ranges by geographic location are as
follows [74,103]:

                < 5,000 feet (1,524 m) in CA
                1,500-4,500 feet (460-1,370 m) Siskiyou Mtns., CA, OR


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Red huckleberry occurs as a climax shrub in western hemlock, western
hemlock-Sitka spruce, Douglas-fir, and redwood forests of the Northwest
[2,10,11,18,29,33,64,95].  It is also capable of surviving many types of
disturbances and can be important in certain seral communities.

Western hemlock:  Red huckleberry dominates many seral communities in
western hemlock forests of the Northwest and is particularly common on
unburned clearcuts [41].  In the Cascade Range, red huckleberry assumes
prominence during the initial herbaceous stage of succession which
occurs 0 to 5 years after disturbance [26].  Certain seral red
huckleberry/salal communities ultimately develop into western
hemlock/vine maple (Acer circinatum)/salal or western
hemlock/salal-western swordfern (Polystichum munitum) types [29].  In
parts of coastal British Columbia, red huckleberry grows in initially
disturbed, second growth, and old growth stands in western hemlock
forests [64].  However, in drier maritime forests, it may be present in
early mature to mature old-growth stands [57].

Sitka spruce-western hemlock:  Red huckleberry, along with salal, is an
important early seral species in many spruce-hemlock forests of the
Northwest [45].  In parts of southeastern Alaska, it commonly sprouts or
develops from seed during the first 3 years after logging [2].  Sprouts
are often common in relatively protected areas such near root mounds,
logs, and stumps [1].  Dense shrub stands develop within 20 to 30 years
after timber harvest, and by 50 to 60 years after disturbance, a nearly
continuous layer of huckleberry often develops [1].  During postlogging
succession, many shrubs, including red huckleberry, are eliminated or
reduced after tree canopies close and before they begin to open again at
stand ages of 150 to 200 years [2].  Red huckleberry is common in
old-growth Sitka-spruce-western hemlock forests (250+ years),
particularly in more open areas [2].  It occurs in mature climax stands
on floodplain gravel bar communities of Vancouver Island but is absent
on newly exposed floodplain sites where parent plants are lacking [18].
Red huckleberry is a prominent component of mature Sitka spruce-western
hemlock-western redcedar forests of British Columbia [81].

Western hemlock-Douglas-fir:  Red huckleberry occurs in climax [93] and
seral western hemlock-western redcedar-Douglas-fir communities [6].  In
western hemlock-Douglas-fir forests of western Washington, this shrub
may be absent initially after timber harvest, but plants "soon" sprout
[14].  Cover typically peaks during "stage 2" of succession which is
characterized by dense shrub growth [14].  Red huckleberry abundance
declined as conifers and deciduous trees develop into a closed canopy
[14].  In northwestern Oregon, it may be replace by devil's club
(Oplopanax horridum) where extremely dense shade develops [93].  Cover
of red huckleberry has been documented as follows after sites in the
western hemlock-Douglas-fir zone in the western Cascades of Oregon were
clearcut, broadcast burned, and planted with Douglas-fir [88]:

                              years

      2      5       10     15     20      30     40     undist. old growth
  
     0.65    0.61    0.79   3.72   1.15    2.92   1.34   1.31

Douglas-fir:  Red huckleberry occurs in both newly disturbed and
old-growth stands in Douglas-fir forests of the Northwest.  It was
present in recent clearcuts on the Olympic Peninsula but was not
observed in 300-year-old stands [28].  It was, however, observed in
old-growth stands in parts of western Oregon [33].  Cover by stand age
was documented as follows in Washington [65]:

        stand age (years)   5     22     30     42     73

        cover (percent)    0.01   0.80   3.76   1.80   1.32


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Leaves of red huckleberry emerge in spring before flowering occurs [60]
and commonly persist until heavy frost in early winter [48,101].
Seasonal development by geographic location has been documented as
follows [19,48,64,74,101]:

location              flowering         fruit ripening

AK                    May-June          mid to late August
BC                    ---               July-September
CA                    May-June          --- 
OR                    May-June          July-August
WA                    ---               August-September
Northwest             April-June        ---  

Related categories for Species: Vaccinium parvifolium | Red Huckleberry