Compilation
Vaccinium membranaceum

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Name

Identification
Vaccinium membranaceum Douglas ex Hook. [family ERICACEAE ] (stored under name); Vaccinium angustifolium Aiton [family ERICACEAE ] Verified by Vander Kloet, S.P.,
Related name
  • Vaccinium myrtilloides
  • Vaccinium myrtillus
  • Vaccinium membranaceum
  • Vaccinium deliciosum
  • Vaccinium caespitosum
  • Vaccinium angustifolium
Common name
  • Thinleaf huckleberry, Flora of North America Vol. 8

Flora

Entry for Vaccinium membranaceum Douglas ex Torrey [family ERICACEAE]
Herbarium
Flora of North America (FNA)
Collection
Flora of North America
Resource Type
Reference Sources
Entry From
Flora of North America, Vol 8,
Names
Vaccinium membranaceum Douglas ex Torrey [family ERICACEAE], in C. Wilkes et al., U.S. Expl. Exped., 17: 377. 1874 ,
Vaccinium coccineum Piper [family ERICACEAE]
Vaccinium globulare Rydberg [family ERICACEAE]
Vaccinium membranaceum var. rigidum (Hooker) Fernald [family ERICACEAE]
Treatment Author(s)
Sam P. Vander Kloet
Information
Plants forming small to extensive clumps, rarely crown-forming, 2–30 dm, not rhizomatous; twigs of current season yellow-green or reddish green, terete to slightly angled, glabrous or hairy in lines. Leaf blades usually green, broadly elliptic to ovate, 25–50 × 11–23 mm, margins sharply serrate, surfaces glandular abaxially. Flowers: calyx green, obscurely lobed, glabrous; corolla white, cream, yellowish pink, or bronze, globose to urceolate, 3–5 × 5–7 mm, thin, glaucous; filaments glabrous. Berries shiny or dull black or deep purple, rarely red or white, 9–13 mm diam. Seeds ca. 1 mm. 2n = 48.
Phenology
Flowering late spring–early summer
Altitude range
900–3500 m
Distribution
USA Ariz.USA Calif.USA Colo.USA IdahoUSA Mich.USA Mont.USA Oreg.USA S.Dak.USA UtahUSA Wash.USA Wyo.Canada Alta.Canada B.C.Canada Ont.
Discussion
Vaccinium membranaceum is, by far, the most widely commercially utilized western huckleberry for fruit and is harvested extensively from the wild. This species served as an especially important source of food for native peoples throughout western North America, and the dried berries were used for winter food and trade.

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