VacciniumParvifolium01

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Red Huckleberry seems to be the most dominant Vaccinium throughout the lower mainland in the Vancouver area, although certain places, like Seymour mountain, have more of the Vaccinium Ovalifolium. The shrub is unmistakable, growing up to about 4 meters, branches bright green, and is found growing in rich soil such as decaying wood or stumps.

The berries are bright red, round, 1cm round, and vary in taste from sour to sweet evergreen when ripe. I have tried the berries in the unripe stage, and found them to be palatable and fill the hungry gap. The berries are also attractive to wildlife and are useful as fish bait in streams.

The shrub flowers in May (small bell flowers either greenish yellow, or pinkish) and the fruit ripen by August. I have seen some bushes with fruit still clinging to the branches in late October, very unusual (the longer the berries stay on the bush, the sweeter they taste). The berries were eaten by most of the aboriginal West Coast people, either fresh, squashed for juice, or dried into cakes, or stored in grease for winter consumption. (Vaccinium berries are sweet and contain high concentrations of both mono- and di-saccharides. Berries are rich in vitamin C and energy content but low in fats.) The leaves and bark of the shrub were mushed and boiled into a decoction for use as a gargle for sore throats and sore, inflamed gums. (Huckleberry foliage is relatively high in carotene, manganese, and energy content.)

To pick the berries faster than by hand, fashion a comb that has teeth separated a little narrower than the average size of the Huckleberry, then 'comb' the fruit bearing branches into a bucket.