Huckleberries in Florida

Most people don’t know that huckleberries are native to Florida and can be found in the wild in a variety of habitats, including:

·        Saw palmetto prairies

·        Pine flat woodlands

·        Pine savannas

·        Flatwoods

·        Sandhills

·        Scrub habitats

·        Wooded areas

·        Swamps

Here in Florida, we have dwarf huckleberries which are low-growing tiny colonial shrubs. It’s spring flowers attract pollinators and it’s summer fruits are enjoyed by birds, mammals, and humans. The plant bears small white to pinkish-white flowers. Dwarf huckleberry’s dense foliage and profuse blooms and fruit provide interest in the landscape as well as vital resources for wildlife.

Very important to wildlife, it has been said you must beware of bears when picking huckleberries because they comprise a third of a bear’s feeding, so do not pick early in the day or early evening.  It has also been reported to be a favorite food of Bigfoots and Sasquatches.

Huckleberries are difficult to produce commercially because they need to be handpicked and are more naturally found in the wild.

So what is the difference between blueberries and huckleberries?

The Dwarf huckleberry is often mistaken for its cousins, Darrow’s blueberry (Vaccinium darrowii) and Shiny blueberry (V. myrsinites). Huckleberries are smaller and sweeter than blueberries, and have a similar appearance. They have a circular "crown" on the opposite side of the stem from the fruit and can range in color from orangey-red to purple to deep blue-black. Huckleberries also have 10 stony seeds inside, and the underside of their leaves have yellow dots. 

Both are in the heath (Ericaceae) family, with Gaylussacia (huckleberries) genus, named for Louis Joseph Gay-Lussac, 1778-1859, a French chemist who discovered the law of combining volumes of gasses. According to Henry David Thoreau, huckleberry came from the corruption of the hurtleberry, a variety of European blueberry.