Huckleberry

Vaccinium ovatum

California huckleberry (Vaccinium ovatum) is an evergreen shrub native to the Pacific coast from British Columbia south to central California. It is a component of coastal forests, shady canyons, and redwood understory, often forming impenetrable thickets under the canopy of larger trees. Leaves are alternate, shiny dark green, finely serrated, and smaller than those of most other huckleberries, along narrow, wiry, woody stems. In spring, plants are covered with urn-shaped, heath family characteristic pinkish-white flowers in small clusters, and in late summer, berries darken to purple to nearly black as they ripen [1][2].

Berries have been highly valued as a food source for millennia. Native peoples throughout the West Coast regularly harvested huckleberries when in season, eating them fresh or dried, or incorporated into cakes, stews, and other meals. They continue to be a popular wild seasonal fruit, both for their rich, tart flavor and for their nutritional value. The berries are high in the antioxidants anthocyanins and vitamin C, both contributing to the dark, almost black color of the ripe fruit, as well as to traditional foods and modern preparations like jams, pies, syrups, and wines [3][4].

Ecologically, California huckleberry provides both food and shelter for birds, bears, and small mammals. The evergreen leaves and dense habit also provide structure in the understory year-round, and it is particularly common in the Huckleberry Botanic Regional Preserve in the East Bay, where it carpets sun-drenched hillsides with fruit in summer.

A hardy, tasty, and culturally significant shrub, Vaccinium ovatum is one of the most identifiable and widespread native shrubs of the coastal forest.

[1] Washington Native Plant Society. “Vaccinium ovatum – Ethnobotany.” https://www.wnps.org/native-plant-directory/47-vaccinium-ovatum/

[2] United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Plant Guide. “Evergreen Huckleberry – Vaccinium ovatum.” https://plants.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/plantguide/pdf/cs_vaov2.pdf

[3] Lee, J.; Finn, C.E.; Wrolstad, R.E. “Comparison of Anthocyanin Pigment and Other Phenolic Compounds of Vaccinium membranaceum and V. ovatum Native to the Pacific Northwest of North America.” Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 52 (2004): 7039-7044. https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/37108/PDF/2004JAgricFoodChem52_7039_7044.pdf

[4] Su, Zushang. “Anthocyanins and Flavonoids of Vaccinium L..” Pharmaceutical Crops 3 (2012): 7-37. https://www.benthamopen.com/contents/pdf/TOPHARMCJ/TOPHARMCJ-3-7.pdf