[1] In North America, the name was applied to numerous plant variations, all bearing small berries with colors that may be red, blue, or black.
[2] From coastal Central California through Oregon to southern Washington and British Columbia, the red huckleberry (V. parvifolium) is found in the maritime-influenced plant community.
[2] The plant grows best in damp, acidic soil having volcanic origin, attaining under optimal conditions heights of 1.5 to 2 m (5 to 6+1⁄2 ft), usually ripening in mid-to-late summer or later at high elevations.
[2] Huckleberry was one of the few plant species to survive on the slopes of Mount St. Helens when the volcano erupted in 1980, and existed as a prominent mountain-slope bush in 2017.
[citation needed] Huckleberry grows wild in northwestern United States and western Canada on subalpine slopes, forests, bogs, and lake basins.
[citation needed] The fruit is versatile in foods or beverages, including jam, pudding, candy, pie, ice cream, muffins, pancakes, salad dressings, juice, tea, soup, and syrup.