huckleberry

Dictionary: huck·le·ber·ry   (hŭk'əl-bĕr'ē)

1. Any of various New World shrubs of the genus Gaylussacia, related to the blueberries and bearing edible fruit.
2. The glossy, blackish, many-seeded berry of these plants.

[Probably alteration of hurtleberry, whortleberry. See whortleberry.]

Wild North American berry, the fruit of Gaylussacia baccata and other species (named after the French chemist Gay-Lussac, 1778-1850). Similar to blueberry but has larger seeds; used in tarts, pies, and preserves.

A wild, blue-black berry that closely resembles (and is often mistaken for) the blueberry. The huckleberry, however, has 10 small, hard seeds in the center, whereas the blueberry has many seeds, so tiny and soft that they're barely noticeable. Additionally, the huckleberry has a thicker skin and a flavor that is slightly less sweet and more astringent. Unless you pick them yourself, or have a friend who does, it's unlikely that you'll find fresh huckleberries because they're not cultivated. They're in season from June through August and are good eaten plain or in baked goods such as muffins or pies.

A 1670 description of Long Island said, "The Fruits natural to the Island, are Mulberries, Posimons, Grapes great and small, Huckelberries." The huckleberry, named after the similar English hurtleberry, is small and dark, something like a blueberry. The resemblance is such that in some places huckleberry is used as the name for the blueberry.

Both in agriculture and in the American vocabulary, the huckleberry has been humble. In the 1800s, huckleberry meant "a small thing," as in an 1844 account from West Virginia: "Why, this thing laying here ain't a circumstance--hardly a huckleberry to him." A small bet was "a huckleberry to a persimmon." By virtue of its lowly status, however, huckleberry was chosen for the title role in one of the most renowned of American novels, Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), starring a character introduced in a supporting role in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876). "No, one doesn't name his characters haphazard," Twain told an interviewer in 1895. "Finn was the real name of the other boy, but I tacked on the 'Huckleberry.' You see, there was something about the name 'Finn' that suited, and 'Huck Finn' was all that was needed to somehow describe another kind of a boy than 'Tom Sawyer,' a boy of lower extraction or degree."

For more information on huckleberry, visit Britannica.com.

For other uses, see Huckleberry (disambiguation).

Bog Huckleberry at Polly's Cove, Nova Scotia

Wild huckleberry in the Mount Hood National Forest. The floral remnants, signifying a false berry, are visible on the apex of the fruit.

Huckleberry is a name used in North America for several plants in two closely related genera in the family Ericaceae: Gaylussacia and Vaccinium. The Huckleberry is the state fruit of Idaho.

While some Vaccinium species, such as the Red Huckleberry, are always called huckleberries, other species may be called blueberries or huckleberries depending upon local custom. Usually, the distinction between them is that blueberries have numerous tiny seeds, while huckleberries have 10 larger seeds (making them more difficult to eat).

The 'garden huckleberry' (Solanum melanocerasum) is not considered to be a true huckleberry but a member of the nightshade family.

The fruit of the various species of plant called huckleberry is generally edible. The berries are small and round, usually less than 5 mm in diameter, and contain 10 relatively large seeds. Berries range in color according to species from bright red, through dark purple, and into the blues. In taste the berries range from tart to sweet, with a flavor similar to that of a blueberry, especially in blue/purple colored varieties. Huckleberries are a favorite of many mammals such as bears and humans.

In the Pacific Northwest of North America, the huckleberry plant can be found in mid-alpine regions, often on the lower slopes of mountains. The plant grows best in damp, acidic soil. Under optimal conditions, huckleberries can be as much as 1.5-2 m (about 5-6.5 feet) high, and usually ripen in mid-to-late summer; later at higher elevations.

Huckleberries hold a place in archaic English slang. The tiny size of the berries led to their frequent use as a way of referring to something small, often in an affectionate way. The phrase "a huckleberry over my persimmon" was used to mean "a bit beyond my abilities". "I'm your huckleberry" is a way of saying that one is just the right person for a given job,^[1] which was used by the character Doc Holliday in the movie Tombstone. The Huckleberry Railroad is a heritage train located in Flint, Michigan. It ran so slowly that it was said a person could jump off the train, pick huckleberries and jump back on the train with minimum effort. ^[2]

References

1. ^ World Wide Words
2. ^ Huckleberry Railroad

This article includes a list of related items that share the same name (or similar names).

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - blåbær

Nederlands (Dutch)
blauwe bosbes

Français (French)
n. - myrtille

Deutsch (German)
n. - Heidelbeere

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (φυτολ.) μύρτιλλος, βατόμουρο

Italiano (Italian)
mirtillo

Português (Portuguese)
n. - espécie de mirtilo (m) (Bot.)

Русский (Russian)
черника

Español (Spanish)
n. - arándano

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - amerikanskt blåbär (av släktet Gaylussacia)

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
越橘类

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 越橘類

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 윌귤나무 무리의 관목 (그 열매)

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - ハックルベリー, コケモモ

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮אוכמנית‬

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