This is an oft-misidentified fruit. A couple of different genera comprise the fruits known as “huckleberries”, and they fall into a western group, in the genus vaccinium, and an Eastern group in the genus Gaylussacia. They are often confused with blueberries, which also happen to fall into the genus vaccinium.
But huckleberries do have a brighter flavor than blueberries, much like wild strawberries have a brighter flavor than their commercial counterparts. Gaylussacia are also seedier than vaccinium, having ten seeds per berry rather than five, and the seeds tend to be crunchier. Vaccinium prefers rather acidic soils whereas Gaylussacia is less dependent on this soil feature, better suited for our less acidic Appalachian soils.
At the orchard, we are attempting to establish a few Western varieties, the common huckleberry, vaccinium membraneceum and the evergreen huckleberry, vaccinium ovatum, and, the Bilberry or Whortleberry, vaccinum myrtillus. But we would like to focus more on the lesser-known Eastern varieties, known to our forebears. Gaylussacia bacata, brachycera, frondosa, dumosa, hirtosa…
Volunteers are encouraged to bring cuttings from their favorite Eastern huckleberry patches. AFFN has sprouted some of these from seed. But the sprouts grow very slowly. In their first season after spouting, most will still be smaller than a grain of rice! So rooted cuttings may be more practical.