Gaylussacia dumosa (dwarf huckleberry)

Gaylussacia dumosa (Andrews) Torr. & A. Gray

Gaylussacia bigeloviana (Fernald) Sorrie & Weakley

Gaylussacia dumosa (Andrews) Torr. & A. Gray var. bigeloviana Fernald

Gaylussacia orocola Small

Lasiococcus dumosus (Andrews) Small

Lasiococcus dumosus (Andrews) Small var. bigelovianus (Fernald) Fernald

Lasiococcus orocola (Small) Small

Dwarf huckleberry, bush huckleberry, gopherberry

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division	Magnoliophyta	Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms
Class	Magnoliopsida	Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves
Subclass	Asteridae	A large class that encompasses asters
Order	Ericales	Tea, persimmon, blueberry, Brazil nut, azalea, many others
Family	Ericaceae	Heath or heather family
Genus	Gaylussacia	For chemist and physicist Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac
Species	dumosa	“Bushy, shrubby”

About plant names...

Dwarf huckleberry is a North American native shrub.

Identification: Shrubs are 12-30" (30-75 cm) in height, and heavily branched. Young twigs are covered with short, curly hairs. Leaves are 1" (2.5 cm) long, leathery, and obovate to elliptic. Flowers are bell-shaped, cream-colored, tinged with pink, appearing in June. Fruits are berries about ¼" (8 mm) in diameter, each with 10 seeds, fewer than for blueberries.

This Gaylussacia and Vaccinium comparision chart compares these closely related genera, both of which contain plants called huckleberries.

Edibility: Fruits are reported both as “watery and insipid” and ”juicy and deliciously spicy,” probably as a result of misidentification of the type of huckleberry.

Online References:

Gaylussacia dumosa on Discover Life

Gaylussacia dumosa on the USDA Forest Service's Fire Effects Information Database

Gaylussacia dumosa on Plants for a Future, a resource and information centre for edible and otherwise useful plants

Gaylussacia dumosa on the Connecticut Botanical Society's Connecticut wildflowers site

Gaylussacia dumosa at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Gaylussacia dumosa on www.carolinanature.com

8/22/2020 · Kettle Hole Bog, Hidden Valley Nature Center, Jefferson, ME
≈ 7 × 7" (16 × 18 cm)

Gaylussacia dumosa description by Thomas H. Kent, last updated 23 Aug 2020.

8/22/2020 · Kettle Hole Bog, Hidden Valley Nature Center, Jefferson, ME
≈ 7 × 10" (16 × 24 cm)

8/22/2020 · Kettle Hole Bog, Hidden Valley Nature Center, Jefferson, ME
≈ 10 × 7" (24 × 16 cm)

9/20/2009 · Wild Gardens of Acadia, Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor, ME
≈ 14 × 9" (35 × 23 cm)

9/16/2016 · Sieur de Monts Botanical Gardens, Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor, ME

9/28/2013 · Wild Gardens of Acadia, Acadia Naitonal Park, Bar Harbor, ME
≈ 8 × 5" (20 × 13 cm)

Range:

About this map...