Vaccinium shastense
(c) Trevor Van Loon, some rights reserved (CC BY) · licence
Family: Ericaceae · Type: Shrub · Native
Vaccinium shastense is a native California shrub in the Ericaceae family, recognized by rolled leaf margins with glandular bristles and persistent wavy calyx.
Shasta huckleberry is a native shrub found in the Klamath Ranges and northern California mountains in forested areas at elevations of 500 to 2,000 meters. Flowering from late spring to early summer, this plant produces delicate pink to whitish urn-shaped flowers in single axillary blooms. Growing 0.5 to 1.7 meters tall with erect to decumbent stems that are strongly angled and bright green, it forms dense rhizomatous clusters. Its deciduous leaves are thin and ovate to obovate, typically 2 to 4.5 centimeters long with margins rolled under and edges fringed with tiny gland-tipped bristles. The fruit is a dark blue, glaucous berry approximately 6 to 8 millimeters in diameter that develops in late summer.
Identification and appearance
Key characters: 8 sympatric species; key features are rolled leaf margins with glandular bristles and persistent wavy calyx
Frequently asked questions
Is Vaccinium shastense native to California?
Yes. Vaccinium shastense is native to California (recorded as native).
What plant family does Vaccinium shastense belong to?
Vaccinium shastense is in the Ericaceae family, genus Vaccinium.
Related species
Other California species in the same genus, family, or bioregion.
Sources: Jepson eFlora · Index of California Plant Names · CalPhotos
Last updated 2026-09-30
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Cal-IPC, and more.