Return to my Biology pages
Go to my home page
© Copyright 1998, Jim Loy
I have been told, by several people, that huckleberries and blueberries are the same. No, they are not the same. Well, not really. When I eat huckleberries, I am not eating what biologists call huckleberries. I eat Montana huckleberries. According to biologists, the Montana huckleberry is a species of blueberry. The Blueberries that you find in blueberry pies are nice and sweet, and are a different species of blueberry. Montana huckleberries are sour. And they are heaven on a bush (or in my mouth).
What biologists call huckleberry (I have apparently never eaten one of these) is a member of gaylussacia, blueberry is a member of vaccinium. These are different genuses, or genera (I was going to say geni, but they would drum me out of the human race for that, so I won't say it), of the same family (heath).
This article is a modified version of an earlier (slightly more confused) article.