Huckleberry
Huckleberry, a shrub of the heath family that bears black or blue fruit. It is often confused with the blueberry, but the two can be told apart by the nature of their fruit. Huckleberries have 10 large seeds, or nutlets, while blueberries contain many tiny seeds. (Further confusion arises from the fact that the name whortleberry is sometimes applied to the huckleberry and sometimes to a species of blueberry.) There are about 50 species of huckleberries, including several evergreens.
Huckleberries are small, round, dark fruits that grow on shrubs.Huckleberries are native to most temperate parts of North and South America, except for the Pacific Coast. Most species are one to three feet (30 to 90 cm) high, but some reach six feet (180 cm). The shrub bears small, oval leaves and small clusters of red, pink, or white flowers. The juicy black or blue fruit, which is more acid than the blueberry, is used chiefly for pies and preserves.
Most of the huckleberries in the United States grow wild in the sandy or peaty acid soil of New England. Species include the black huckleberry, which grows about three feet high, and the smaller box huckleberry, dwarf huckleberry, and blue huckleberry (or dangleberry).
The black huckleberry is Gaylussacia baccata; box, G. brachycera; dwarf, G. dumosa; blue, G. frondosa. All belong to the family Ericaceae.