PNW Native
Shrubs are up to 12 ft. tall, evergreen, with alternate, leathery, sharp-toothed, and thick leaves 3-5 cm. long. Flowers are bell-shaped, pink, and in clusters of 3-10. Small, shiny, almost-black berries are ¼ - ¾ in. long, delicious, and sweet. (1)
Evergreen huckleberry prefers the edges and openings of coniferous forests and shore environments near tidewater. The berries ripen in early autumn but remain on bushes through December, causing them to be an important late-season food source (1)
Evergreen huckleberry is important browse for elk in the Coast ranges of Oregon and serves as forage for domesticated goats and sheep. The berries are widely eaten by birds and mammals including thrushes, towhees, ring-necked pheasant, grouse, ptarmigans, black and grizzly bear, red and grey fox, squirrels, skunks and chipmunks. The shrubs and thickets they form are used as cover and nesting sites by birds and small mammals. (2)
Berries were widely eaten by the indigenous inhabitants of the Northwest region including: the Nuu-chah-nulth, Sechelt, Comox, Halqemeylem, Quinault, and Straits Salish tribes, and the berries were well-enough liked that people would travel distances to collect them. (1) Huckleberries were added to dried cakes of preserved berries that served as a major food source and were an essential wintertime source of vitamin C. (2) The ripening of evergreen huckleberries was used to predict the beginning of dog salmon spawning migrations. The Makah tribe maintained evergreen huckleberries through burning and pruning. (3)
Evergreen huckleberries were one of the plant species the famous explorers Lewis and Clark collected on their 1805 voyage to the Lower Columbia River. (2)
Evergreen huckleberries are sweet, edible, and widely favored by humans. Large quantities continue to be annually picked. They are made into pies, wine, cooked in various ways, made into jams and jellies, and frozen, but are less desirable fresh than other huckleberry varieties. (2)
Evergreen huckleberry is planted as a hedge or ground cover plant. The foliage is used as a filler plant by florists, espescially for seasonal Christmas decorations, and in the early 1970s, an annual harvest from Western Washington of evergreen huckleberry foliage was evaluated at $1 million. (2) There are potential concerns about the overharvesting of ‘floral greens’ such as salal and evergreen huckleberry for decorative purposes rendering their fruit-bearing capacities lesser than before. (3)
