Index of Species Information
SPECIES: Gaylussacia frondosa
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| Blue huckleberry. Image by Robert H. Mohlenbrock. Provided by USDA NRCS Wetland Science Institute (WSI). |
Introductory
SPECIES: Gaylussacia frondosa
AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION:
Carey, Jennifer H. 1994. Gaylussacia frondosa. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online].
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station,
Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/shrub/gayfro/all.html [].
Revisions:
On 11 July 2018, the common name of this species was changed in FEIS
from: dangleberry
to: blue huckleberry. Images were also added.
ABBREVIATION:
GAYFRO
SYNONYMS:
Gaylussacia tomentosa (Gray) Small
Gaylussacia nana (Gray) Small [36]
NRCS PLANT CODE:
GAFR2
COMMON NAMES:
blue huckleberry
dangleberry
hairy dangleberry
TAXONOMY:
The scientific name of blue huckleberry is Gaylussacia
frondosa (L.) T. & G. (Ericaceae) [13,26].
The following three varieties are recognized:
Gaylussacia frondosa var. frondosa
Gaylussacia frondosa var. tomentosa Gray [5,6,14,15]
Gaylussacia frondosa var. nana Gray [5,14,15]
Wunderlin [36] considers the two nontypic varieties to be separate species.
Gaylussacia f. var. tomentosa is distinguished by densely short-pubescent twigs
and lower leaf surfaces. Gaylussacia f. var. nana is distinguished by its
shorter stature, shorter branches, and columnar aspect, as well as
short-pubescent stems [15].
LIFE FORM:
Shrub
FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS:
No special status
OTHER STATUS:
NO-ENTRY
DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Gaylussacia frondosa
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION:
Blue huckleberry occurs in the eastern United States. The range of the
typical variety extends from New York, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire
south along the Atlantic Coastal Plain to South Carolina [15]. Although
blue huckleberry occurs primarily east of the Appalachian Mountains, it has
been reported in Ohio, Tennessee, and West Virginia [3,13]. Gaylussacia
frondosa var. tomentosa occurs from South Carolina to central Florida
and west to Alabama [14,26]. The range of G. f. var. nana extends from
southern Georgia south to central Florida, and west to Mississippi and
possibly Louisiana [15].
 |
| Distribution of blue huckleberry. Map courtesy of USDA, NRCS. 2018. The PLANTS Database.
National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC [2018, July 11] [32]. |
ECOSYSTEMS:
FRES12 Longleaf - slash pine
FRES13 Loblolly - shortleaf pine
FRES14 Oak - pine
FRES15 Oak - hickory
STATES:
AL CT DE FL GA LA MD MA MS NH
NJ NY NC OH PA RI SC TN VA WV
BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS:
NO-ENTRY
KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS:
K100 Oak - hickory forest
K110 Northeastern oak - pine forest
K111 Oak - hickory - pine forest
K112 Southern mixed forest
K114 Pocosin
SAF COVER TYPES:
45 Pitch pine
52 White oak - black oak - northern red oak
70 Longleaf pine
75 Shortleaf pine
76 Shortleaf pine - oak
80 Loblolly pine - shortleaf pine
81 Loblolly pine
83 Longleaf pine - slash pine
84 Slash pine
97 Atlantic white-cedar
98 Pond pine
SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES:
NO-ENTRY
HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES:
Blue huckleberry is a common but rarely dominant shrub in the Atlantic and
Gulf coastal plains [12]. It occurs in dry and moist woods,
particularly in pine (Pinus spp.) flatwoods [7].
Blue huckleberry frequently occurs with other ericaceous shrubs including
highbush cranberry (Vaccinium corymbosum), hillside blueberry (V.
pallidum), Lyonia spp., sheep-laurel (Kalmia angustifolia), wintergreen
(Gaultheria procumbens), dwarf huckleberry (Gaylussacia dumosa), and
black huckleberry (G. baccata) [9,17,28,31].
At swamp and drainage margins, blue huckleberry is associated with red maple
(Acer rubrum), southern bayberry (Myrica cerifera), sweetbay (Magnolia
virginiana), sweet pepperbush (Clethra alnifolia), redbay (Persea
borbonia), loblolly bay (Gordonia lasianthus), fetterbush (Leucothoe
racemosa), and Sphagnum spp. [8,9,18,34].
In longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) and slash pine (P. elliottii)
communities, blue huckleberry occurs with bitter gallberry (Ilex glabra),
wiregrass (Aristida stricta), and saw-palmetto (Serenoa repens)
[18,28,31].
Blue huckleberry is listed as a dominant species in the following
publications:
1. The phytosociology of the Green Swamp, North Carolina [18]
2. The ecology of southeastern shrub bogs (pocosins) and Carolina bays:
a community profile [28]
MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS
SPECIES: Gaylussacia frondosa
IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE:
Blue huckleberry provides food, shelter, and cover for wildlife. Numerous
birds including sharp-tailed grouse, greater prairie chicken, bobwhite
quail, wild turkey, mourning dove, catbird, and scarlet tanager eat the
berries. Black bear, gray fox, raccoon, and fox squirrel also eat the
berries. White-tailed deer and cottontail rabbit browse stems lightly
[16,33].
PALATABILITY:
NO-ENTRY
NUTRITIONAL VALUE:
NO-ENTRY
COVER VALUE:
NO-ENTRY
VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES:
In Lehigh Gap, Pennsylvania, where soil is contaminated with heavy
metals from a nearby smelter, blue huckleberry cover and density are lower
than in uncontaminated areas [17].
OTHER USES AND VALUES:
Blue huckleberry fruits are edible [33].
OTHER MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS:
Ehrenfeld [7] determined shrub biomass and nitrogen concentrations of
blue huckleberry foliage from the New Jersey pine barrens. Blue huckleberry
produces small stems but abundant leaves, so it has low shrub biomass
but high net biomass production [7,8].
Regression equations for predicting blue huckleberry biomass which relate
stem diameter to dry weight are available [8].
BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Gaylussacia frondosa
GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS:
Blue huckleberry is a native, deciduous, freely branched slender shrub
[26,33]. The typical variety grows to 6 feet (2 m) in height, G. f.
var. tomentosa grows to 3 feet (1 m) in height, and G. f. var. nana
grows to 2 feet (0.6 m) in height [14]. The fruit is a fleshy drupe
containing around 10 seeds [13,33].
Aerial stems arise from extensively branched rhizomes to form clones
[22]. The aerial stems are usually 3 to 72 inches (7.6-183 cm) apart on
the rhizomes. The woody rhizomes are usually 0.13 to 0.38 inches
(0.3-1.0 cm) in diameter. They are generally confined to the humus
layer and the top 2 inches (5 cm) of the A1 soil horizon. Roots are
generally confined to the same soil level as the rhizomes [20].
RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM:
Geophyte
REGENERATION PROCESSES:
Blue huckleberry regenerates by vegetative reproduction and seed.
Existing blue huckleberry colonies regenerate after disturbance primarily by
sprouting from rhizomes. Destruction of aboveground stems stimulates
sprouting [21,22].
Blue huckleberry probably colonizes new sites by animal-dispersed seed [12].
Blue huckleberry was present in the understory of an oak (Quercus spp.)-pine
woods in the New Jersey pine barrens but absent from the seedbank [23].
SITE CHARACTERISTICS:
Blue huckleberry occurs primarily on the southeastern United States coastal
plains and is infrequent on the Piedmont. It grows in sandy and rocky
woods and on the margins of shrub bogs and swamps [5,14,26].
Blue huckleberry grows on acidic, low-nutrient, poorly to well-drained soils
[1,12,18,28]. It grows on both organic and mineral soils but prefers an
intermediate soil type with a shallow organic layer [18]. At the
outermost fringe of a bog in North Carolina, a tall shrub community
which included blue huckleberry occurred on soil with a 10- to 12-inch (25-30
cm) organic layer [34].
Blue huckleberry is a facultative phreatophyte; its roots extend to the water
table in lowland areas, but do not reach the water table in upland areas [20].
SUCCESSIONAL STATUS:
Blue huckleberry is probably intermediate in shade tolerance but may be more
productive when grown in sunlight. It is an important component in
older stands of the New Jersey pine barrens [29]. In Massachusetts,
blue huckleberry occurs in a mid- to late-successional forest dominated by
white oak (Quercus alba), American beech (Fagus grandifolia), and
sassafras (Sassafras albidum) [24].
SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT:
Blue huckleberry flowers March through May, and fruits mature July through
August [26,35].
FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Gaylussacia frondosa
FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS:
Blue huckleberry is fire tolerant. Aboveground parts are destroyed by most
fires, but dormant buds on rhizomes usually survive and sprout [4,21].
Blue huckleberry occurs in habitats that regularly experience fire, including
oak scrub, oak-pine scrub, and longleaf pine-slash pine communities [4,31].
Low-severity fire encourages prolific vegetative growth of blue huckleberry
[22]. However, severe fire that burns the humus layer, where many of
the rhizomes are, can probably reduce or eliminate blue huckleberry from a
site [20]. Frequent fire may decrease blue huckleberry cover [4], probably
because of inadequate time between fires to replenish root resources.
Blue huckleberry regeneration after fire is probably independent of
aboveground, but not belowground, severity. Areas that burn frequently
may have low levels of humus, so rhizomes must grow in the mineral soil
and are less vulnerable to fire. For instance, blue huckleberry persists in
the New Jersey pine barrens which historically burned by severe crown
fire every 20 to 25 years [2,20].
In the Cumberland Island National Seashore, Georgia, an oak-pine scrub
community with an understory of blue huckleberry, saw-palmetto, and Lyonia
spp. has natural 20- to 30-year fire intervals. This community may
support fire as often as every 5 years [31].
POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY:
Rhizomatous shrub, rhizome in soil
FIRE REGIMES:
Find fire regime information for the plant communities in
which this species may occur by entering the species name in the
FEIS home page under "Find Fire Regimes".
FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Gaylussacia frondosa
IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT:
Most fires kill aboveground portions of blue huckleberry [4,21].
Moderate-severity or severe fire that burns the humus layer may also
kill many of the rhizomes, thereby killing the plant.
PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE:
Surviving rhizomes sprout from dormant buds following fire [4,21].
A single low-severity fire usually encourages prolific blue huckleberry
growth. Vigorous thickets of blue huckleberry with high stem densities arise
after low-severity fire [22].
Buell and Cantlon [4] investigated the effects of fire frequency on an
upland oak forest in New Jersey with a well-developed shrub layer.
Low-severity prescribed fires were conducted in winter at 1-, 2-, 3-,
4-, 5-, 10-, and 15-year intervals. Blue huckleberry showed long-term decline
in percent cover at fire intervals of 5 years or less. Blue huckleberry had
14 percent cover on unburned control plots and 0.5 percent cover on
plots burned annually for 10 years.
FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS:
In the North Carolina Coastal Plain, the fuel load was 17.3 tons per
acre for a tall shrub community averaging 8 feet (2.4 m) in height.
Blue huckleberry contributed 10 percent of the total fuel load [34].
In frequently burned 16- to 30-year-old slash pine forests in
southeastern Georgia, blue huckleberry attained peak production 3 years after
prescribed burning. It produced no fruit the first postfire year, 32
grams of fruit per 100 square meters the second year, and 104.4 grams of
fruit per 100 square meters the third year, accounting for 23 percent of
the total fruit production in the forests during the third postfire
growing season. Blue huckleberry fruit production decreased substantially
the fourth postfire year. The authors conclude that prescribed fire at
3-year intervals optimizes blue huckleberry and other forest species fruit
production, but longer intervals (more than 5 years) allow less
fire-tolerant mast-producing species to mature as well [16]. Because
Buell and Cantlon [4] showed that blue huckleberry declines at fire intervals
of 5 years or less, a prescribed fire interval longer than 5 years is
probably best for long-term blue huckleberry fruit production.
In a longleaf pine forest in Florida, fire during the growing season
synchronized the postfire flower production of understory species
including blue huckleberry [25].
REFERENCES
SPECIES: Gaylussacia frondosa
REFERENCES:
1. Best, G. Ronnie; Segal, Debra S.; Wolfe, Charlotte. 1990.
Soil-vegetation correlations in selected wetlands and uplands of
north-central Florida. Biol. Rep. 90(9). Washington, DC: U.S. Department
of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service. 51 p. [18161]
2. Boerner, Ralph E. J. 1983. Nutrient dynamics of vegetation and detritus
following two intensities of fire in the New Jersey pine barrens.
Oecologia. 59: 129-134. [8648]
3. Braun, E. Lucy. 1961. The woody plants of Ohio. Columbus, OH: Ohio State
University Press. 362 p. [12914]
4. Buell, Murray F.; Cantlon, John E. 1953. Effects of prescribed burning
on ground cover in the New Jersey pine region. Ecology. 34: 520-528.
[9262]
5. Clewell, Andre F. 1985. Guide to the vascular plants of the Florida
Panhandle. Tallahassee, FL: Florida State University Press. 605 p.
[13124]
6. Duncan, Wilbur H.; Duncan, Marion B. 1987. The Smithsonian guide to
seaside plants of the Gulf and Atlantic Coasts from Louisiana to
Massachusetts, exclusive of lower peninsular Florida. Washington, DC:
Smithsonian Institution Press. 409 p. [12906]
7. Ehrenfeld, Joan G. 1986. Wetlands of the New Jersey Pine Barrens: the
role of species composition in community function. American Midland
Naturalist. 115(2): 301-313. [8650]
8. Ehrenfeld, Joan G.; Culick, Martha. 1981. Structure and dynamics of
hardwood swamps in the New Jersey pine barrens: contrasting patterns in
trees and shrubs. American Journal of Botany. 68(4): 471-481. [22904]
9. Ehrenfeld, Joan G.; Schneider, John P. 1991. Chamaecyparis thyoides
wetlands and suburbanization: effects on hydrology, water quality and
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[16958]
10. Eyre, F. H., ed. 1980. Forest cover types of the United States and
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1977. Vegetation and environmental features of forest and range
ecosystems. Agric. Handb. 475. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service. 68 p. [998]
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wildlife. Gen. Tech. Rep. NE-9. Upper Darby, PA: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Forest Experiment Station. 180
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northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. 2nd ed. New York: New
York Botanical Garden. 910 p. [20329]
14. Godfrey, Robert K. 1988. Trees, shrubs, and woody vines of northern
Florida and adjacent Georgia and Alabama. Athens, GA: The University of
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15. Godfrey, Robert K.; Wooten, Jean W. 1981. Aquatic and wetland plants of
southeastern United States: Dicotyledons. Athens, GA: The University of
Georgia Press. 933 p. [16907]
16. Johnson, A. Sydney; Landers, J. Larry. 1978. Fruit production in slash
pine plantations in Georgia. Journal of Wildlife Management. 42(3):
606-613. [9855]
17. Jordan, Marilyn J. 1975. Effects of zinc smelter emissions and fire on a
chestnut-oak woodland. Ecology. 56: 78-91. [3461]
18. Kologiski, Russell L. 1977. The phytosociology of the Green Swamp, North
Carolina. Tech. Bull. No. 250. Raleigh, NC: North Carolina Agricultural
Experiment Station. 101 p. [18348]
19. Kuchler, A. W. 1964. Manual to accompany the map of potential vegetation
of the conterminous United States. Special Publication No. 36. New York:
American Geographical Society. 77 p. [1384]
20. Laycock, William A. 1967. Distribution of roots and rhizomes in
different soil types in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey. Geological
Survey Professional Paper 563-C. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of of
the Interior, Geological Survey. 29 p. [Hydrology and ecology, Pine
Barrens, New Jersey]. [22934]
21. Matlack, Glenn R.; Gibson, David J.; Good, Ralph E. 1993. Regeneration
of the shrub Gaylussacia baccata and associated species after
low-intensity fire in an Atlantic coastal plain. American Journal of
Botany. 80(2): 119-126. [20726]
22. Matlack, G. R.; Good, R. E. 1989. Plant-scale pattern among herbs and
shrubs of a fire-dominated coastal plain forest. Vegetatio. 82: 95-103.
[9829]
23. Matlack, Glenn R.; Good, Ralph E. 1990. Spatial heterogeneity in the
soil seed bank of a mature coastal plain forest. Bulletin of the Torrey
Botanical Club. 117(2): 143-152. [22905]
24. Ogden, J. Gordon, III. 1962. Forest history of Martha's Vineyard,
Massachusetts. I. Modern and pre-colonial forests. American Midland
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25. Platt, William J.; Evans, Gregory W.; Davis, Mary M. 1988. Effects of
fire season on flowering of forbs and shrubs in longleaf pine forests.
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the vascular flora of the Carolinas. Chapel Hill, NC: The University of
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geography. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 632 p. [2843]
28. Sharitz, Rebecca R.; Gibbons, J. Whitfield. 1982. The ecology of
southeastern shrub bogs (pocosins) and Carolina bays: a community
profile. FWS/OBS-82/04. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior,
Fish and Wildlife Service, Division of Biological Services. 93 p.
[17015]
29. Stephenson, S. N. 1965. Vegetation change in the pine barrens of New
Jersey. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club. 92(2): 102-114. [22903]
30. Stickney, Peter F. 1989. Seral origin of species originating in northern
Rocky Mountain forests. Unpublished draft on file at: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station, Fire
Sciences Laboratory, Missoula, MT; RWU 4403 files. 7 p. [20090]
31. Turner, Sally; Bratton, Susan P. 1987. The recent fire history of
Cumberland Island, Georgia. Castanea. 52(4): 300-303. [9753]
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Conservation Service (Producer). Available: https://plants.usda.gov/. [34262]
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Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. 1104 p. [7707]
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and associated soils in the coastal plain of North Carolina. Station
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Ridge. Athens, GA: The University of Georgia Press. 384 p. [12908]
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Florida. Tampa, FL: University Presses of Florida, University of South
Florida. 472 p. [13125]
FEIS Home Page
https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/shrub/gayfro/all.html
