BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary
Vaccinium ovatum
evergreen huckleberry
| Scientific Name: | Vaccinium ovatum Pursh | ||||||||||
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| English Name: | evergreen huckleberry | ||||||||||
| Classification / Taxonomy | |||||||||||
| Scientific Name - Concept Reference: | Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR. | ||||||||||
| Classification Level: | Species | ||||||||||
| Species Group: | Vascular Plant | ||||||||||
| Species Code: | VACCOVT | ||||||||||
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| Conservation Status / Legal Designation | |||||||||||
| Global Status: | G5 (Nov 2019) | ||||||||||
| Provincial Status: | S5 (Apr 2019) | ||||||||||
| BC List: | Yellow | ||||||||||
| Provincial FRPA list: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Wildlife Act: | |||||||||||
| COSEWIC Status: | |||||||||||
| SARA Schedule: | |||||||||||
| General Status Canada: | 4 - Secure (2010) | ||||||||||
| Ecology & Life History | |||||||||||
| General Description: | |||||||||||
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| Global Reproduction Comments: | This species is an important food source for elk and the berries are eaten by birds and mammals, who disperse the seeds. The species also spreads vegetatively (Tirmenstein 1990). | ||||||||||
| Habitats: (Type / Subtype / Dependence) |
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| Global Habitat Comments: | Vaccinium ovatum occurs at the edges of coniferous forests and on the trunks of redwoods, as an epiphyte (FNA 2009). It is an understory dominant or codominant of various conifer forests and coastal headland shrub communities. It grows in acidic soils ranging in pH of 4.3 to 5.2 (Tirmenstein 1990). | ||||||||||
| Provincial Phenology: (1st half of month/ 2nd half of month) |
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| Elevation (m) (min / max): | Provincial: | ||||||||||
| Known Pests: | |||||||||||
| Pollen Vector: |
BIOTIC
Hymenoptera |
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| Pollinator: | |||||||||||
| Dispersal: |
BIOTIC
Birds Mammals |
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| Provincial Inventory | |||||||||||
| Inventory Priority: | |||||||||||
| Ownership of occurrences (Known locations): | |||||||||||
| Inventory Need: | |||||||||||
| Economic Attributes | |||||||||||
| Global Economic Use: |
Cultivated ornamental
ESTHETIC FOOD Fruit LANDSCAPING MEDICINE/DRUG OTHER USES/PRODUCTS Revegetation |
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| Global Economic Comments: | The fruits are a desirable for fresh eating and cooking, e.g. pies. Native peoples of the pacific northwest, including The Capella Indians, also ate the berries which provided an important source of vitamin C in the winter months(Tirmenstein 1990).The species has been used for revegation projects. Florists utilize the foliage in flower arrangements. The foliage is also used in Christmas decor (Tirmenstein 1990). | ||||||||||
| Distribution | |||||||||||
| Endemic: | N | ||||||||||
| Global Range Comment: | Vaccinium ovatum occurs in British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and California (FNA 2009). It occurs in the Cascades, the Coast Ranges, and the central Sierra Nevada (Tirmenstein 1990). | ||||||||||
| Disjunct, more common elsewhere: | |||||||||||
| Peripheral, major distribution elsewhere: | |||||||||||
| Authors / Contributors | |||||||||||
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| Last Literature Search: | |||||||||||
| References and Related Literature | |||||||||||
Flora of North America Editorial Committee (FNA). 2009. Flora of North America north of Mexico. Vol. 8. Magnoliophyta: Paeoniaceae to Ericaceae. Oxford University Press, New York. xxiv + 585 pp. |
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Tirmenstein, D. 1990. Vaccinium ovatum. In: Fire Effects Information System. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory. Online. Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/vacova/all.html (accessed 2019). |
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Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.
Suggested Citation:
B.C. Conservation Data Centre. Species Summary: Vaccinium ovatum. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Jun 16, 2026).