Vaccinium parvifolium
Common name: 
Red Huckleberry
Red Whortleberry
Pronunciation: 
vak-SIN-ee-um par-vi-FLOR-um
Family: 
Ericaceae
Genus: 
Type: 
Broadleaf
Native to (or naturalized in) Oregon: 
Yes
  • Deciduous shrub, 4-10 ft (1.2-3 m) high, taller on favorable sites, more, branches green, sharply angled, smooth or slightly hairy, occasionally the buds, stems and leaves may be red.  Leaves alternate, simple, elliptical to oblong-elliptical, 1-3 cm long, thin, margins entire, dark green above, paler below; petiole about 3 mm long.  Flowers small, greenish-white or pinkish, bell or urn-shaped, solitary and in leaf axis.  Fruit spherical, bright red berry, 6-10 mm in diameter, mildly acid.
  • Hardy to USDA Zone 5      Native from Alaska to central California, mostly along the Pacific Coast and west slopes of the Cascades and Sierra Nevada mountains, generally below 5,000 ft elevation.  Often found growing on mossy, rotting logs, snags, or stumps.
  • parvifolium: small leaved
Click image to enlarge
  • plant habit, in habitat

    plant habit, in habitat

  • leaves

    leaves

  • plant habit, fruiting

    plant habit, fruiting

  • plant habit, fruiting

    plant habit, fruiting

  • leafy shoots with fruit

    leafy shoots with fruit

  • fruit and leaves

    fruit and leaves

  • winter twigs and buds

    winter twigs and buds