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Huckleberry

Idaho State Fruit

Huckleberries in a huckleberry plum pie; photo by sean dreilinger on Flickr (noncommercial use permitted with attribution / share alike).

Official State Fruit of Idaho

The huckleberry was designated the official state fruit of Idaho in 2000 (fourth-grade students from Southside Elementary School in Bonner County proposed adopting the huckleberry as Idaho's state fruit). Idaho also recognizes an official state vegetable. All State Foods

Several species of huckleberry are native to Idaho (all belonging to genus Vaccinium, section Myrtillus). The most common and popular is the black or thin-leaved huckleberry (Vaccinium membranaceum). Black huckleberries usually grow from 1 to 6 feet tall (taking up to 15 years to reach full maturity) with berries up to 1/2 inch in diameter. Black huckleberries produce single plump, dark purple berries in the axils of leaves on new shoots.

A favorite food of bears, black huckleberries grow at elevations between 2,000 and 11,000 feet. They depend on an insulating cover of snow for survival during the winter and have not been successfully grown commercially.

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