Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Ericales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA (11/30/12):
Gaylussacia ursina
FAMILY
Ericaceae
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Bear Huckleberry at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Gaylussacia ursina
FAMILY
Ericaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 145-18-005:
Gaylussacia ursina
FAMILY
Ericaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933)
Decachaena ursina
COMMON NAME:
Bear Huckleberry, Buckberry, Mountain Huckleberry
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
JK Marlow jkm0504s_36
April Pickens County SC
Table Rock State Park
A narrow Southern Appalachian endemic, per Weakley's Flora.
)
JK Marlow jkm150424_743
April Blount County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Small, pendant white (tinged with red) flowers in short racemes, per Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont.
)
JK Marlow jkm150424_745
April Blount County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Leaves elliptic to elliptic-oblanceolate, upper surface not glandular, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
)
JK Marlow jkm150424_745b
April Blount County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Sepals 0.5mm, glabrous, sparsely sessile-glandular, per Flora of North America.
)
JK Marlow jkm150424_748b
April Blount County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Leaves slightly hairy below and with tiny resinous dots, per Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge.
)
JK Marlow jkm120523_278
May Graham County NC
Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest
)
JK Marlow jkm120523_278b
May Graham County NC
Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest
Fruit has a flat base, per Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge.
)
JK Marlow jkm120523_279b
May Graham County NC
Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest
Leaves with golden, sessile glands on the lower surface only, per Guide to the Wildflowers of SC.
)
JK Marlow jkm140519_947
May Jackson County NC
Big Ridge Preserve
Leaves with a blunt projection at the tip of the tapering apex, per Guide to the Wildflowers of SC.
)
JK Marlow jkm140519_953
May Jackson County NC
Big Ridge Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm160502_009
May Transylvania County NC
)
JK Marlow jkm160502_009b
May Transylvania County NC
Calyx lobes obtuse, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
)
JK Marlow jkm200613_5836
June Jackson County NC
Foothills Trail
)
JK Marlow jkm200613_5906
June Jackson County NC
Foothills Trail
A low shrub often forming colonies or extensive stands 2-4' in height, per Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge.
)
JK Marlow jkm0307h_22
July Oconee County SC
Sumter National Forest: Andrew Pickens Ranger District
)
JK Marlow jkm0307i_17
July Oconee County SC
Sumter National Forest: Andrew Pickens Ranger District
Leaves elliptic to elliptic-oblanceolate, apex acute to acuminate, mucronate, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
)
JK Marlow jkm0307m_21
July Oconee County SC
Sumter National Forest: Andrew Pickens Ranger District
Fruit a 10-seeded berry on a long stalk, shiny black when ripe, per Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge.
)
JK Marlow jkm190704_9771
July Jackson County NC
Foothills Trail
)
JK Marlow jkm190704_9772
July Jackson County NC
Foothills Trail
)
JK Marlow jkm190704_9772b
July Jackson County NC
Foothills Trail
WEAKLEY'S FLORA (11/30/12):
Gaylussacia ursina
FAMILY
Ericaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Gaylussacia ursina
FAMILY
Ericaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 145-18-005:
Gaylussacia ursina
FAMILY
Ericaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933)
Decachaena ursina
598
Shrub
Perennial
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Documented growing wild in GA NC SC
Common in Mountains, rare in Piedmont (a narrow Southern Appalachian endemic)
Look for it in mesic to xeric forests, frequently dominant, but limited to areas southwest of the Asheville Basin, per Weakley's Flora
Click here to see a more detailed map from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Herbarium,
or click here to see a map from SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
LEAVES:
Deciduous
Simple
Alternate
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
Reddish/Greenish
Bisexual
Radially symmetrical
5-lobed calyx
4-5 lobed urceolate to urceolate-campanulate corolla
10 included stamens
Inferior ovary
Flowers in axillary racemes on 2nd-year wood
FRUIT:
Summer
Black/Rarely blue or white
Berry
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC p168
- Native Shrubs and Woody Vines of the Southeast p115
- Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge p28
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont p284
- Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide p150