OF THE CAROLINAS & GEORGIA

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Ericales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Gaylussacia ursina   FAMILY Ericaceae   Go to FSUS key



SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Gaylussacia ursina   FAMILY Ericaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America

Gaylussacia ursina

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, 1938)

Decachaena ursina

 

COMMON NAME:
Bear Huckleberry, Buckberry, Mountain Huckleberry, Bearberry


         To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.

image of Gaylussacia ursina, Bear Huckleberry, Buckberry, Mountain Huckleberry, Bearberry

JK Marlow    jkm0504s_36

April    Pickens County    SC

Table Rock State Park

A narrow Southern Appalachian endemic, per Weakley's Flora.

image of Gaylussacia ursina, Bear Huckleberry, Buckberry, Mountain Huckleberry, Bearberry

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 (Spira, 2011).

image of Gaylussacia ursina, Bear Huckleberry, Buckberry, Mountain Huckleberry, Bearberry

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 (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).

image of Gaylussacia ursina, Bear Huckleberry, Buckberry, Mountain Huckleberry, Bearberry

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.

image of Gaylussacia ursina, Bear Huckleberry, Buckberry, Mountain Huckleberry, Bearberry

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 (Lance).

image of Gaylussacia ursina, Bear Huckleberry, Buckberry, Mountain Huckleberry, Bearberry

JK Marlow    jkm230428_2800

April    Greenville County    SC

Mountain Bridge Wilderness

image of Gaylussacia ursina, Bear Huckleberry, Buckberry, Mountain Huckleberry, Bearberry

JK Marlow    jkm230428_2823

April    Greenville County    SC

Mountain Bridge Wilderness

image of Gaylussacia ursina, Bear Huckleberry, Buckberry, Mountain Huckleberry, Bearberry

JK Marlow    jkm120523_278

May    Graham County    NC

Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest

image of Gaylussacia ursina, Bear Huckleberry, Buckberry, Mountain Huckleberry, Bearberry

JK Marlow    jkm120523_278b

May    Graham County    NC

Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest

Fruit has a flat base, per Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance).

image of Gaylussacia ursina, Bear Huckleberry, Buckberry, Mountain Huckleberry, Bearberry

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, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001).

image of Gaylussacia ursina, Bear Huckleberry, Buckberry, Mountain Huckleberry, Bearberry

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, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001).

image of Gaylussacia ursina, Bear Huckleberry, Buckberry, Mountain Huckleberry, Bearberry

JK Marlow    jkm140519_953

May    Jackson County    NC

Big Ridge Preserve

image of Gaylussacia ursina, Bear Huckleberry, Buckberry, Mountain Huckleberry, Bearberry

JK Marlow    jkm160502_009

May    Transylvania County    NC

image of Gaylussacia ursina, Bear Huckleberry, Buckberry, Mountain Huckleberry, Bearberry

JK Marlow    jkm160502_009b

May    Transylvania County    NC

Calyx lobes obtuse, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).

image of Gaylussacia ursina, Bear Huckleberry, Buckberry, Mountain Huckleberry, Bearberry

JK Marlow    jkm200613_5836

June    Jackson County    NC

Foothills Trail

image of Gaylussacia ursina, Bear Huckleberry, Buckberry, Mountain Huckleberry, Bearberry

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 (Lance).

image of Gaylussacia ursina, Bear Huckleberry, Buckberry, Mountain Huckleberry, Bearberry

JK Marlow    jkm0307h_22

July    Oconee County    SC

Sumter National Forest: Andrew Pickens Ranger District

image of Gaylussacia ursina, Bear Huckleberry, Buckberry, Mountain Huckleberry, Bearberry

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 (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).

image of Gaylussacia ursina, Bear Huckleberry, Buckberry, Mountain Huckleberry, Bearberry

JK Marlow    jkm190704_9771

July    Jackson County    NC

Foothills Trail

image of Gaylussacia ursina, Bear Huckleberry, Buckberry, Mountain Huckleberry, Bearberry

JK Marlow    jkm190704_9772

July    Jackson County    NC

Foothills Trail

image of Gaylussacia ursina, Bear Huckleberry, Buckberry, Mountain Huckleberry, Bearberry

JK Marlow    jkm190704_9772b

July    Jackson County    NC

Foothills Trail

image of Gaylussacia ursina, Bear Huckleberry, Buckberry, Mountain Huckleberry, Bearberry

JK Marlow    jkm220705_8918

July    Greenville County    SC

Bald Rock Heritage Preserve

image of Gaylussacia ursina, Bear Huckleberry, Buckberry, Mountain Huckleberry, Bearberry

JK Marlow    jkm220705_8922

July    Greenville County    SC

Bald Rock Heritage Preserve

Fruit a 10-seeded berry on a long stalk, shiny black when ripe, per Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance).

 

 

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Gaylussacia ursina   FAMILY Ericaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Gaylussacia ursina   FAMILY Ericaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Gaylussacia ursina

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, 1938)
Decachaena ursina

 

Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME:

598

Shrub
Perennial

Habitat: Mesic to xeric forests, frequently dominant; common, per Weakley's Flora

Native to the Carolinas & Georgia

Common in Mountains (rare in Piedmont)

map
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.

LEAVES:
Deciduous
Simple
Alternate

FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
Reddish/Greenish
Radially symmetrical
5-lobed calyx
4-5 lobed urceolate to urceolate-campanulate corolla
10 included stamens
Inferior ovary
Bisexual

Flowers in axillary racemes on 2nd-year wood

FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Black/Rarely blue or white
Berry

 

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!



 


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