I recently ran across a website that lists obscure facts about different plants and animals.
This month they published 23 Fun And Interesting Facts About Huckleberry. I’d like to share a few here:
1. The name “huckleberry” is a North American variation of the English
dialectal name variously called “hurtleberry” or “whortleberry” for the bilberry….
4. Four species of huckleberries in the genus Gaylussacia are common in eastern North America, especially G. baccata, which is also known as the black huckleberry….
5. From coastal Central California to southern Washington and British Columbia, the red huckleberry, Vaccinium parvifolium, is found in the maritime influenced plant community.
6. The red huckleberry can be found primarily in the Pacific Northwest and the mountains of Montana and Idaho….
9. Huckleberry was one of the few plant species to survive on the slops of Mount St. Helens when the volcano erupted in 1980, and exists as a prominent mountain slope bush in 2017….
11. The garden huckleberry isn’t a true huckleberry, but instead a member of the nightshade family….
16. In the wild, huckleberries are often eaten by bears, birds, coyotes and deer.
17. The tiny size of huckleberries led to their use as a way of referring to something small, often affectionately as in the lyrics of Moon River….
19. The range of slang meanings of huckleberry in the 19th century was large, but it often referred to either a significant person or a nice person.
20. Huckleberries were often compared to persimmons, which are much larger, to express the idea of something small against something big. This eventually led to the popular phrase, “a huckleberry over my persimmon,” which meant something was just beyond one’s abilities.
21. Huckleberries have a high iron content, which improves blood circulation.
22. They help speed up the metabolism and promote healthier muscle tone.
23. It’s a good source of vitamin C, which means that it helps develop resistance to fight against immune deficiencies.
Read all 23 Fun and Interesting Facts About Huckleberry
