HUCKLEBERRY

small, fruit-bearing, branching shrub of the genus Gaylussacia (family Ericaceae), resembling in habit the English bilberry (Vaccinium), to which it is closely allied. The huckleberry bears fleshy fruit with 10 nutlike seeds, differing in this respect from the blueberry. The common huckleberry of the northern United States is G. baccata, also called black, or high-bush, huckleberry. G. brachycera and G. dumosa are known, respectively, as box and dwarf, or bush, huckleberry. The florists', or evergreen, huckleberry is actually a blueberry. The cultivation of huckleberries is essentially the same as for blueberries, requiring acidic and moist but well-drained soil. The red huckleberry of the southern United States is commonly called the southern cranberry.