The box huckleberry is either tasteless or sweet like a blueberry depending on what you read. It’s evident that somebody has tasted the wrong berry or misidentified their berry.
Blueberries are similar to huckleberries. There are several types of each plant, so one would expect that they don’t all taste the same. It seems that the plentiful huckleberries of the Northwest might be different than the box huckleberry of Pennsylvania, especially in regards to taste.
Since the fruits are similar recipes using blueberries could be used interchangeably with huckleberries. If the huckleberries are not sweet, adjustments will have to be made.
Ok. So I probably won’t be making huckleberry pie anytime soon because the fruit won’t ripen for a month or more, but I did want to collect a few links about eating huckleberries or using them in the kitchen somehow.
We look forward to the box huckleberry fruit ripening in June. If that doesn’t pan out, we could always use these recipes with the blueberries we have growing out back.
The morning of April 3, 2010 was a beautifully sunny one. We drove straight through Newport via the River Road where we saw some beautiful stands of Dutchman’s Breeches and they were flowering just profusely. They are really pretty with their little flower frond held high in the air. They made me stop and turn around they were that pretty. Since it was private property we didn’t take time to ask to get a picture because we were on the way somewhere.
Anyway, we continued on through Newport, PA on Route 34 south to New Bloomfield, turned left at the town square and continued on Route 274. About where the houses end at the edge of town, we turned right onto Huckleberry Road and about a half-mile down the road came to the Box Huckleberry Natural Area, land protected by the forest service.
The Box Huckleberry Natural Area is a 10-acre site in the Tuscarora State Forest.
Sign at the entrance of the Box Huckleberry Natural Area
The Box Huckleberry Natural Area of the Tuscarora State Forest has been managed by the Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry since 1974, and is located in Perry County, Pennsylvania. Route 34/274 are half a mile away and New Bloomfield is 1 1/2 miles away. Take the Newport/Route 34 exit of Route 322 and continue south on Route 34. When you turn onto Huckleberry Road there is a small pullout for a parking area. The creek across the road feeds into Trout Run.
Steps at the entrance to the Box Huckleberry Natural Area
Walking up the steps into the natural area you come to a trail where there is a map posted. No pamphlets available. Rules and regulations are posted by the Forest Service. To be highlighted among these rules is that you shall do no picking of flowers according to the rules on forest products.
Map of the 10-acre Box Huckleberry Natural Area
The trail is well-worn with pine needles, pine cones, leaves or moss covering the trail in places. It’s a short trail running maybe half a mile up and over a hill. In a few spots you could see the tire imprints of a mountain bike rider that rode through the trail recently.
Well-worn trail of the Box Huckleberry Natural Area
The nature trail has a moderate climb and a few steps in appropriate locations to help you up the trail.
Going up the trail at the Box Huckleberry Natural Area
The Box Huckleberry, Gaylussacia brachycera, is like a low-growing blueberry. The plants are green everywhere with their evergreen leaves shining in the sunlight.
Shining leaves of the box huckleberry carpet the area.Box huckleberry by the trail.
Small oval leaves are leathery to the touch, with a shiny slick upper surface and a paler rougher surface on the underside of the leaves.
Close-up image of the box huckleberry leaf underside and a few blooms.
Huckleberry blossoms are just starting to come out now. The flowers are similar to blueberry blossoms because the bell-shaped white flowers hang in clusters.
Dangling flowers of the box huckleberry.Group of flowering box huckleberries.Pink flower buds of the box huckleberry.
Most plants have tight pink buds for flowers, not opened blossoms. Blossoms that catch an early morning sun might be opening, but not very many huckleberries are blooming just yet.
Flower buds of the box huckleberry.Close-up image of box huckleberry flower buds.Box huckleberry blooms getting ready to open.
I came over here to find a trailing arbutus as I had never seen the “mayflower” before and it’s been reported to be at this location. Trailing arbutus, Epigaea repens, has rounded evergreen leaves and five pointed bell-shaped blossoms in pink or white. I combed the area in and around the pine trees trying to find trailing arbutus but with no luck.
A couple groups of striped wintergreen were close to the trail in the shaded areas, especially on the hillsides. This land is pretty much covered with white pine and hemlock which creates deep shade and the perfect type of area for the box huckleberry.
Box huckleberry has not spread to areas underneath the more open canopy of the deciduous trees on the far side of the hill. The areas with more sun reaching the ground, like the far side of the hill from the entrance, might be the natural limit of the huckleberry due to the lack of shade.
I found it interesting that the only known colony or plant in North Carolina is associated with mountain laurel, just as the PA plants are.
Besides the striped wintergreen we saw the single leaf of the dogtooth violet but no blooms, and wintergreen – some still with their red berries. Where the box huckleberry grows almost nothing else is growing as it heavily carpets the whole area. Rattlesnake-weed with its heavy, purple-veined leaf ribs were seen at the edge of the shady area near the entrance.
A major curiosity is that the entire box huckleberry colony is actually one giant plant that is estimated to be at least 1300 years old! It grows by expansion of roots at a rate of about 6 inches per year. Currently, the New Bloomfield Box Huckleberry, as it’s referred to by the forest service, is about 8 acres in size. There’s another box huckleberry plant not too far from here that is reportedly over 13,000 years old, which makes these plants some of the very oldest organisms on the planet.
Worthy of protection, don’t you think? The box huckleberry has a threatened status in Pennsylvania and is protected by virtue of being in the State Forest.
Under Title 17 Pennsylvania Code, Part 1 Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Subpart C State Forests, Chapter 21 General Provisions, under Forest Products part 21.31 Prohibitions. The following activities are prohibited…
Cutting, picking, digging, damaging or removing in whole or in part a living or dead plant, vine, shrub, tree or flower on State Forest land without written permission of the district forester or designee, except that edible wild plants or plant parts may be gathered without authorization if they are gathered for one’s own personal or family consumption. Dead and down wood for small camp fires may be gathered without prior authorization.
I would interpret that to mean that we can’t take any clippings or cuttings of the plants themselves, but we could come back and sample the fruit without getting in trouble. I wonder if huckleberries taste like blueberries…hmmm, maybe we’ll come back to this berry patch in June.
Take Route 34 exit off Route 322, go south on Route 34 through Newport, PA and just after a sharp bend in the road to the right (near the feed mill), turn right onto Little Buffalo Road. Continue for a mile or so and turn left onto State Park Road. Pass in front of the Blue Ball Tavern Museum and cross the one lane bridge. Turn right onto the first lane and proceed to the parking area on the left.
Map of the Day Use Area in Little Buffalo State Park
The red path shows how to get to the Day Use Area and where to park. The yellow circle marks the best place to find Spring wild flowers in Little Buffalo State Park.
The Day Use Area is set up for picnics with plenty of picnic tables and pavilions, grills, a playground, and easy access to trails and scenic overlooks.
Walk toward the creek and through the covered bridge. Take the Mill Race Trail if you want to see the Spring wildflowers. It’s an easy trail, only one-half mile long, and it is the best place to see the Spring Ephemeral flowers at Little Buffalo State Park. You’ll see some wildflowers on the hillsides and other flowers in the lowlands near the creek. Shoaff’s Mill is an attraction in itself – the water wheel is supposedly one of the biggest in existence!
Spring Ephemeral flowers blooming on 3 April 2010 –
skunk cabbage
round-lobe hepatica
spring beauty
bloodroot
Also saw the sword-like leaves of the trout lily, but its yellow flowers were not visible yet.
Spicebush trees or shrubs were blooming along the far end of Mill Race Trail near the creek. Bright yellow clusters of flowers bloom all along the length of the branches before any leaves appear.
If you’d like a more challenging hike, stop by the visitor’s center and pick up a map of the park. Try the Volksmarch 10K loop, the Buffalo Ridge Trail, or the Fisherman’s Trail.
In reviewing the many pictures I’ve taken of hepatica in the woodlands I found a couple instances where the leaves were four-lobed instead of three-lobed.
Lower leaf of this round-lobed hepatica is a four-lobed leaf.Upper leaf of this round-lobed hepatica is a four-lobed leaf.
Some leaves will have four rounded lobes instead of the typical three rounded lobes, although the fourth lobe seems like an afterthought. Chalk it up to individual variation.
If you sit long enough in a clover patch, you’re bound to find a four-leaf clover!
Round-lobed hepatica appears to bloom over a couple weeks time, with flowers coming and going according to the weather. Rainy, overcast and cooler weather hold back their blossoming.
Like a lot of flowers hepatica blossoms close up at night, too. This daily opening and closing of blooms is probably related to changes in temperature. Springtime evenings are cool and even cold, so perhaps there is some advantage to the plant in keeping the reproductive parts warm by closing up their petals.
Round-lobed hepatica blooms open in the daylight.
The colorful “petals” of hepatica close up around the stamens overnight. The photo above was taken at 11 am and shows the blossoms just opening up in the daylight. Note that the three rounded bracts are visible.
Close-up of round-lobed hepatica flowers opening in the daytime.
Close-up photo of morning hepatica blooms taken 1 April 2010. The same hepatica flowers at about 6 pm the previous day were fully open (photo below taken 31 March 2010).
Round-lobed hepatica blooms fully open after a sunny day.
On March 31st the Round-lobed Hepatica, Hepatica americana, were blooming strong. I counted 13 hepatica plants on the south east quad, west and south of the original found plant at the moss-covered skinny log. I think I may have been in the woods at the right time to see so many plants. All it takes is a little wind for the oak leaves to cover up the hepatica and hide it from us, so make sure to look well among the leaf litter for it.
The previous two days were cloudy, overcast, windy and rainy. The delicate forest flowers must need at least a little sun to coax their blooms out of hiding. After all, they only bloom once in a year and when they do bloom it’s during the time when there are no leaves on the trees.
Leaf buds are pushing a little on a few trees, like the cherry trees and lilacs, but for the most part the scenery is still drab shades of gray and brown accented with flowering forsythia and star magnolia.
Hepatica photos taken 29 March 2010 show the flower buds getting ready to open. Photos in this post – all photos taken 31 March 2010 – show blossoms opening up.
Round-lobed hepatica with white blossoms.
White flowers are opening up on this round-lobed hepatica. It’s an older plant with at least seven leaves and as many flowers. (Click images to see larger view.) Note that the petals are shorter than the bracts under the flower head. Young petals are smaller than the bracts. As the flower matures the sepals get larger until they are about the same length as the bracts.
Round-lobed hepatica plant with only two leaves and two flowers.
The true colors of the two blossoms above are pale blue. The waxy surface of the leaves can be seen here as a shiny surface.
In real life the flowers were a much deeper blue to purple color, but the sunlight – and a flash on the closeup images – washed out the color. The afternoon sun shone on the hepatica flowers softly, but the images from my little digital Olympus were overexposed. Can’t wait to get a manual everything camera.
Round-lobed hepatica with purple flowers.
Closeup of light purple round-lobed hepatica flowers. This plant grew at the base of a big oak tree, so it was easy to find it again. Use landmarks around you to re-locate plants that you want to observe throughout the year.
Round-lobed hepatica with small upright leaves. Note angular features of small leaves.
This older hepatica plant, as noted by the many leaves and flowers, has a set of smaller, upright leaves. The upright leaves are not rounded on the edges, but rather pointed or angular and about the same size as the flowers.
Closeup of round-lobed hepatica upright leaves.
Closeup of smaller, upright leaves shows they are taller than the flowers. Why are these leaves held upright? Are they young versions of the mature leaves that overwinter or do they have a different purpose? Several of these smaller leaves are deformed or have been nibbled on. Not many of the larger, rounded leaves are so deformed, but there are a few leaves that are torn or damaged that survive from year to year. Perhaps mammals of the forests that browse on the small leaves help to pollinate hepatica.
Round-lobed hepatica with ant on flower.
Here, we see that ants are likely pollinators of round-lobed hepatica. Note the fuzzy appearance of the flower stems and the tight anthers on the cream-colored stamens that stick out like little lights.
Fuzzy stems of round-lobed hepatica flowers.
Flowers don’t all blossom at one time. In the image above there are two fully-developed flowers with their petals held out flat, one flower about to open, two with bent heads and flower stalks almost tall enough, and one with a short flower stalk and tighter flower bud. Note the hairy stems and bracts. The hairs are quite long in places, making the flower heads and stems appear fuzzy.
Hairs on leaf of round-lobed hepatica.
Leaves are hairy as well. Older leaves may lose some of the hairs, which are not as long as the hairs on the flower stems.
When you’re taking a walk in the woods searching for hepatica and other Spring ephemeral flowers, stop every now and then and scan the leaf litter all around you. Look for any bit of green on the forest floor and if there is a well-rounded edge to the leaf inspect it a little closer.
At times you will find the flower poking its head above the leaf litter while the leaves that have overwintered are still under cover. This has led to some field guides to state that hepatica flowers will appear before the leaves do. Actually, the leaves are there too, just not completely visible.
Round-lobed hepatica flowers with hiding leaf.
Typical view of hepatica with the flowers sticking above the leaf litter and the leaves hidden below the oak leaves.
Round-lobed hepatica with single leaf and flower poking out of the leaf litter.
Three bracts underneath the flower heads are either green or maroon, hairy, and rounded at the tips.
Round-lobed hepatica with maroon bracts.
This plant has two flowers in the bud stage and a young opened flower that appears to be supported by the three maroon bracts beneath the open flower head.
Not all hepatica plants were flowering on this day. I suppose they don’t flower each and every year, or perhaps those without flowers had already bloomed. At the most the plants that I saw had two blossoms full out per plant, some had only one or no flower – at that particular time. A couple plants had already flowered and dropped their petals, while more blossoms are yet to fill out.
The weather has been unusually warm for much of the US East Coast for the past week. The heat continued to rise to 25 degrees or more over the average for this time of the year, which is about 58 degrees. In Millerstown, PA high temperature records of 85, 89 and 89 degrees were set on April 5, 6 and 7. Yesterday, we tied the record at 86 degrees. Then the cold front came through.
It was a fast storm that reset the temperatures down to normal. Winds blew gusty, lightning hit all around us, the power flicked on and off a few times, and finally a soft rain cooled everything off.
The sunny and warmer than usual weather has pushed vegetation growth and flower blooming much faster than normal. Plants grow and flower according to the amount of sunlight received and temperatures experienced. So, it is a combination of warmth and light that will indicate to a plant that the time is right for flowering, or fruiting for that matter.
Higher temperatures will speed up plant growth and as a result the time of flowering can arrive sooner. The opposite may happen during colder than normal temperatures where growth is slowed and blooming delayed.
Additionally, some plants are not sensitive to the amount of light available, so sunlight is not a factor in their blooming time. These plants are called photoperiod-insensitive plants.
A woodland plant blooming earlier in 2010 is Hepatica. We know that hepatica, one of my favorite woodland plants, blooms in very early Spring, before the trees leaf out. That means that hepatica will bloom in Pennsylvania sometime in April, depending also on latitude and elevation. Will weather conditions, which are very quick to change this time of year, dictate the blooming times of hepatica? It seems so, considering that in 2010, with record-breaking high temperatures, we have observed hepatica and other plants blooming much earlier.
Prior articles on wildeherb.com contain some photos that illustrate the early blooming. In 2007 hepatica was photographed blooming on 21 April. In 2006 hepatica blooms were photographed on the 11th and the 19th of April. In 2010 hepatica is just about done blooming in the first week of April.
Many other plants are also flowering earlier this year. All the plants photographed in the wildeherb links above are blooming now or just past blooming. For instance, the star magnolia has leaves developed already and maybe two blossoms are still hanging on one limb. All the other flower petals have fallen to the ground. Yet, in 2006 the same star magnolia tree was in full bloom on April 11 and no leaves had yet developed.
Tulips, peach trees, ferns, dandelions, and violets all seem to be at about the same development stage now (April 9, 2010) as shown in the April 19, 2006 photos. The one exception is cinquefoil. Its flowers have yet to appear, so perhaps their blooming is dictated more by the available sunlight instead of the prevailing temperatures. A photoperiod-sensitive plant, perhaps.
If the old weather data could be matched up to the images, we might actually be able to document temperature-dependent blooming times. It would be interesting to find out which of the Spring ephemerals are more keyed to temperature than sunlight. That might make it possible to go into the woods at the right times to spy on them!
On a grander scale there are implications here regarding global warming. It’s been documented that blooming has been occurring earlier in the year in some places and for years now. Some are worried that the insects and other pollinators for the early blooming plants might not be in the proper areas to perform their pollinating service at the right time. Insects slumber, birds and bats migrate. During early spring if the plants get way ahead of the pollinators, it could spell disaster for future generations of plants.
At the extreme this raises the question of possible plant extinction due to climate change. Without pollinators in the scenario, these flowering plants won’t be able to reproduce by seed.
April 1st ushered in changes to the scenery around us here in South-central Pennsylvania. Spring blooming plants and trees are really starting to take off and other plants that bloom later in the year are shaking off their winter dormancy.
Forsythia shrubs are blooming in full with the sunshine showing their lemony yellow blooms. The sweet scent of star magnolia blossoms delight the nose from afar. In front yards everywhere you can see the yellow, orange and white of daffodils or narcissus blooms. Bradford pear trees are blooming white and magnolias are starting to open their heavy pink and white flowers.
Greenery of several plants are appearing —
yarrow
japanese barberry
wild rose
blackberry
virgin’s bower vine, down near end of lane
garlic mustard
mayapple buds emerging an inch or so, only saw two buds
touch-me-nots sprouted all along area where wild rose on lane is being cut back, next to elderberry
One plant that I was a little surprised to see coming up is Bee Balm or Oswego Tea. It was transplanted last year from being in a pot for two years, even overwintering in the pot! I was surprised to see it made it through the winter and didn’t get frozen solid while in the pot. Last Autumn the bee balm was transplanted out back on the west side of the woods before the weather turned too cold to dig. Here, it will get filtered morning sun and full afternoon sun. I wonder if all Monarda are as hardy and survive extreme conditions as well as this Bee Balm.
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tells us the petals are actually sepals. 
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