6.
Gaylussacia baccata
(Wangenheim) K. Koch, Dendrologie. 2(1): 93. 1872.
Black huckleberry, crackleberry
Andromeda baccata
Wangenheim, Beytr. Teut. Forstwiss., 111, plate 30, fig. 69. 1787;
Decachaena baccata
(Wangenheim) Small;
Gaylussacia
baccata
var.
glaucocarpa
(B. L. Robinson) Mackenzie
Plants
3-10(-15) dm, form-ing small to extensive colonies; branches spreading; twigs of current season pale green, glabrous.
Leaves:
petiole 1-2(-4) mm; blade pale green abaxially, green to yellowish green adaxially, ovate to oblong, (2-)2.5-5 × 1-2.5 cm, membranous to subcoriaceous, base cuneate, margins entire, apex rounded to obtuse, surfaces glabrous, sometimes puberulent on major veins, sessile-glandular.
Inflorescences
drooping, 3-7-flowered, bracteate, 0.5-1.5 cm, glabrous; bracts early-deciduous, not leaflike (linear-lanceolate), 2-4 mm, shorter than pedicels, glabrous, sessile-glandular.
Pedicels
3-6 mm, glabrous, sessile-glandular; bracteoles 1(-2), 1-2 mm.
Flowers:
sepals 5, 0.7-1 mm, glabrous, sessile-glandular; petals 4-5, corolla orange to red, campanulate-conic, 4-5 mm, lobes 0.5-0.7 mm; filaments 2 mm, glabrous; anthers included, 2.2-2.5 mm, thecae divergent distally; ovary glabrous.
Drupes
juicy, sweet, glossy black (sometimes blue, rarely white), 6-7 mm diam., glabrous.
Seeds
ca. 2 mm.
2
n
= 24.
Flowering late spring. Sandy or rocky soil in deciduous, pine, or mixed woods, roadsides, pastures, and utility rights-of-way, wet, acidic bogs, fens; 0-800 m; Man., N.B., Nfld. and Labr. (Nfld.), N.S., Ont., P.E.I., Que.; Ala., Ark., Conn., Del., D.C., Ga., Ill., Ind., Iowa, Ky., Maine, Md., Mass., Mich., Minn., Mo., N.H., N.J., N.Y., N.C., Ohio, Pa., R.I., S.C., Tenn., Vt., Va., W.Va., Wis.
