Winter is a rough time of the year for huckleberry lovers …. way too early to check the bushes; berries from the summer are gone or mostly gone; and a long wait till the new crop of berries are ready, again, for picking.
So, for some informative reading on the subject, here is an article I found on EHow:
How to Identify Wild Huckleberries
By Tarah Damask
Though the name “huckleberry” applies to plant species within different genera, when identifying wild huckleberries, look for those belonging to Vaccinium species like V. membranaceum, according to Purdue University Agriculture. Known by many names, including thinleaf huckleberry and big huckleberry, this perennial shrub produces edible berries sometimes sold at local farmers markets, as these wild berries are not commercially produced. Pay special attention to color when identifying wild huckleberries to differentiate them from other visually similar berry plants.
Instructions
1. Look for a deciduous shrub with an semi-erect habit. Examine foliage and twigs that take on a dense appearance with a green leaf display. Feel the twigs and consider their color, as young twigs display a smooth, yellow-green hue while older wild huckleberry plants exhibit gray bark that crumbles from the branch, according to the Virginia Tech Forest Department of Resources and Environmental Conservation.
2. Turn to the berries that ripen during the end of summer to distinguish this shrub from other berry shrubs. Taste the berries, provided you are sure they are clean and free of chemical treatments, such as herbicides. Wild huckleberries are prized for their delicious flavor. Identify huckleberries by comparing them to blueberries and red huckleberries, which look similar, though wild huckleberries have a black color, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. Measure the berry’s diameter, which reaches 1/2 inch.
Great info and great photos on your site. As warm as the weather has been the last few weeks in Idaho, it feels like hucklberry season is just around the corner.
Rod´s last blog post ..Picking and Cleaning Huckleberries