Buxella brachycera (Michx.) Small
|
Gaylussacia brachycera (Michx.) A. Gray Box-huckleberry, box-leaved whortleberry
Box huckleberry is a North American native species. This species propagates clonally, producing expanding colonies by sending out roots. This appears to be its only means of propagation, and with remaining populations dwindling and a low rate of propagation, it is considered a critically imperiled species. A colony in Pennsylvania is estimated at up to 8,000 years old, making it at least a contender for oldest woody plant east of the Rocky mountains. Another colony, also in Pennsylvania, is about 1,300 year old. A New Jersey colony spans 3.8 hectares and is estimated at up to 10,000 years in age. Identification: These low evergreen shrubs are 6-18″ (15-45 cm) high. Leaves resemble boxwood leaves, the source of its common names. They do not have the resin glands found in other huckleberries (that is, huckleberries in the Gaylussacia genus; there are also some members of Vaccinium that are called huckleberries and lack resin glands.) Leaves are dark, glossy green, becoming bronze-colored or reddish-purple in the fall. They are ovate, with crenate or serrulate edges and leaf petioles (stems) 1/32-⅛″ (0.5-3 mm) long. Flowers are white or pinkish, urn-shaped, about ⅛″ (4 mm) in size, appearing from May to June. Fruits resemble blueberries, but have fewer, larger seeds. They are about ⅜″ (1.2 cm) in size. This Gaylussacia and Vaccinium comparison chart compares these closely related genera, both of which contain plants called huckleberries. Edibility: Berries are edible, but tasteless. Online References:
Www.naturalheritage.state.pa.us (PDF) The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Plants for a Future, a resource and information centre for edible and otherwise useful plants
5/15/2010 · Garden in the Woods, Framingham, Massachusetts · ≈ 1½ × 1′ (52 × 34 cm) Gaylussacia brachycera description by Thomas H. Kent, last updated 25 May 2020.
© FloraFinder.org. All rights reserved. |
5/15/2010 · Garden in the Woods, Framingham, Massachusetts · ≈ 11 × 7″ (27 × 18 cm)
6/15/2010 · Garden in the Woods, Framingham, Massachusetts · ≈ 2 × 1′ (62 × 41 cm)
9/14/2010 · Garden in the Woods, Framingham, Massachusetts · ≈ 11 × 7″ (27 × 18 cm)
5/15/2010 · Garden in the Woods, Framingham, Massachusetts · ≈ 14 × 9″ (35 × 23 cm) Range:
|
