BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Vaccinium uliginosum ssp. occidentale | Western Huckleberry 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Western huckleberry is a branching, erect or low semispreading shrub
[22,31,41].  Plants are sometimes compact and decumbent [31] and can
form dense, extensive thickets or clones [28,41].  Western huckleberry
typically reaches 8 to 36 inches (20-91 cm) in height [8,49].  Twigs are
yellow-green, smooth, round, and glabrous [22,29,49].

Small, thin, alternate leaves are oblanceolate to obovate, acute at the
base and rounded to obtuse at the apex [16,22,31,49].  Leaves are
generally less than one-half as long as broad [17].  Leaves are glaucous
bluish-green, and often paler or with a waxy, whitish bloom on the lower
surface [29].  Leaves turn a bright red or yellow in the fall [28,30].

The urn-shaped flowers of western huckleberry are pink or white [22,31].
Flowers are generally borne singly or in clusters of two to four in the
leaf axils [29,31,41].  Fruit is an ellipsoid or spherical berry 0.16 to
0.2 inch (4-5 mm) thick [16,29,31].  Berries are blue or bluish-black,
with a dense, waxy bloom [29,41,49].  Western huckleberry, a
cluster-fruited species, can produce 10 to 20 times more fruit than
single-fruited species of similar size [29].  Berries are sweet but
rather dry, and contain approximately 10 individual seeds [30,41].
Seeds are small, brown, compressed, and "cellular-pitted" [31].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Phanerophyte
   Geophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Western huckleberry is capable of reproducing through seed or
vegetatively through sprouting of rhizomes or "underground stems" [41].
Vegetative regeneration appears to be of primary importance in most
species of huckleberries (Vaccinium spp.) that occur in western North
America [26].

Seed:  Seeds of most huckleberries (Vaccinium spp.) are not dormant and
require no pretreatment for germination.  Seedlings first emerge in
approximately 1 month and continue to emerge for long periods of time in
the absence of cold stratification [6].  Schultz [41] reports that
western huckleberry "spreads readily by underground stems as well as by
seed."  However, other researchers report that seedlings of western
huckleberries are rarely encountered in the field [26].

Seed banking does not appear to be an important regenerative strategy in
western huckleberry.  The morphologically and ecologically similar bog
bilberry is characterized by seeds of short-viability which are readily
destroyed by fire [33].  Where plants are killed by disturbance,
reestablishment presumably occurs from off-site seed.  Edible berries
are widely dispersed by birds [24] and mammals.

Vegetative regeneration:  Most species of huckleberry regenerate from
basal sprouts or underground regenerative structures such as roots or
rhizomes [39].  Clones of western huckleberry generally expand through
rhizome sprouting even in the absence of disturbance [41].  Rhizome
sprouting is also likely where aboveground vegetation has been
eliminated but where underground regenerative structures remain
undamaged.  Basal stem sprouting has also been observed after much of
the aboveground portions of the plants have been destroyed by fire [22].


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Western huckleberry grows well on open, moist, wet, swampy or boggy
sites [8,22].  Dense stands often develop on favorable sites such as
along the edges of fens, wet meadows, ponds, and streams, and at the
drier edges of mountain swamps [28,29,41,43].  Since its presence is
largely restricted to moist sites, extensive thickets may be common
[28,41] but somewhat localized [8].  Clinal boundaries between western
huckleberry shrub communities and adjacent drier upland types are often
quite abrupt [28].

Soil:  Huckleberries (Vaccinium spp.) require acidic conditions and can
survive on infertile soils which have relatively low amounts of many
essential elements [20].  Western huckleberry often grows on sandy loams
with a pH of 4.2 to 5.2 [28,30,47].  Soils are wet to saturated, cold,
and with "appreciable" amounts of organic matter [28].  Extensive stands
of western huckleberry are commonly associated with a high water table
[48].

Elevation:  In the Pacific Northwest, western huckleberry generally
occurs at moderate to moderately high elevations [22].  However, it is
generally restricted to the highest elevations in the Great Basin [30].
Generalized elevational range by state has been documented as follows
[9,31,49]:

          from  5,000 to 11,000 feet (1,524-3,355 m) in CA
                5,700 to 8,100 feet (1,737-2,469 m) in MT
               10,800 to 11,513 feet (3,294-3,294 m) in UT
                6,800 to 11,000 feet (2,042-3,355 m) in WY


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
The successional role of western huckleberry is poorly known.  Taylor
[43] found no definite successional trends in western huckleberry
communities which border small ponds in Yellowstone National Park.  In
parts of western Oregon, western huckleberry forms climax associations
with Sitka sedge on poorly drained sites with undulating microtopography
[21].  It also codominates climax communities on boggy, poorly drained
soils with few-flowered spikerush [22].  Many moist sites dominated by
western huckleberry experience disturbances at infrequent intervals and
this shrub apparently persists between disturbances.

Western huckleberry often assumes prominence during early seral stages
if underground regenerative structures remain undamaged.  It may become
common during the second stage of succession in western redcedar (Thuja
plicata)-western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla)-grand fir (Abies grandis)
forests of Idaho following the decline of initial weedy invaders such as
fireweed (Epilobium angustifolium).  Sprouts of western huckleberry grow
rapidly and this shrub can become a prominent component of vegetative
communities within 2 to 3 years after disturbance [24].


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Western huckleberry typically flowers in June or July [17].  Fruit
ripens in July or August [47].  Seasonal development by geographic
location has been documented as follows [9,17,31]:

           location              flowering         fruit ripening

           CA                    June-July         ---- 
           Pacific Northwest     June-July         ----
           UT                    July              ----

Related categories for Species: Vaccinium uliginosum ssp. occidentale | Western Huckleberry