# Box Huckleberry (Gaylussacia brachycera) > A foot-high evergreen ground cover with glossy leaves, pink-white bells in May and sweet blue berries, from a shrub whose wild patches live for centuries. Also called Vaccinium brachycerum. Category: Native Shrubs. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/box-huckleberry/ ![Box huckleberry (Gaylussacia brachycera) glossy evergreen leaves and young berries on a wild stem](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/box-huckleberry-h1610-800.jpg) *Photo: Mason Brock, Public domain ยท [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AGaylussacia_brachycera_wild.jpg)* ## Facts - Type: Shrub - Mature height: 1 to 2 ft - USDA hardiness zones: 5 to 8 - Grows wild in: The forest understory, dry uplands, the Appalachians and sandy barrens - Native range: 8 states, north to Pennsylvania, south to North Carolina and west to Tennessee (Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia) - Sun: Part, Shade - Soil moisture: Average, Dry - Growth rate: Slow - Traits: Rare, Evergreen, Tolerates shade, Edible - Sold as: Saplings, Seed Heights and zones are typical ranges for the species in cultivation; local conditions and seed source shift them. ## Availability Not yet priced online. Ask at captain@bluewhaletrees.com or leave an email on the web page to be told when it is listed. ## Notes Box huckleberry is a dwarf evergreen shrub of Appalachian and Mid-Atlantic woods, and each wild patch is usually a single plant spreading by underground stems. Pennsylvania, Maryland and North Carolina list it as endangered, and NatureServe ranks it vulnerable. A patch cannot pollinate itself, so wild patches almost never set seed and no wild seedling is known. Unlike our black huckleberry and dangleberry, it keeps its leaves all winter, and they carry no resin dots. Use it as a slow evergreen carpet under pines, rhododendrons or mountain laurel on acid ground. ## Size, growth and what to expect Box huckleberry grows slowly, and our growth estimator treats it as slow. It stands about a foot tall, 6 to 18 inches, and its underground stems push the patch outward about 6 inches a year. One Pennsylvania patch nearly 1,000 feet across proved to be a single plant, perhaps 1,000 to 2,000 years old. Small white to pink bells hang in clusters of two to five in May and early June. The light blue berries are juicy and sweet, and they ripen by mid-August. The glossy leaves turn bronze to reddish purple in winter. It grows wild in scattered patches from Pennsylvania and Delaware south to Tennessee, mostly in the Appalachians, with a few on the coastal plain and one in the North Carolina Piedmont. Its home is acid, sandy or shaly soil on wooded slopes, often facing north, with pines and mountain laurel. ## How to grow Box Huckleberry Box huckleberry grows in part shade or shade, as under pines and oaks. In full sun its leaves turn pale and scorch. It needs a loose, acid soil that drains well and holds plenty of organic matter. Set plants 2 feet apart and keep them 2 feet from a wall. At its size it can go within 15 feet of overhead wires. Saplings ship bare-root or potted. Plant them in spring or fall, in a hole wider than the roots and no deeper. Set the crown at the soil line, put the native soil back in, and mulch with pine needles or oak leaves. Wild seed germinates poorly, and its seedlings are weak. Give the cleaned seed a month warm and damp, then two months in the refrigerator. Sow it in a damp peat and sand mix. Seed treated this way has come up at about 80 percent. Water weekly through the first two summers while the runners take hold. The patch widens only about 6 inches a year, so weed around it until it closes over. It needs no pruning. Each flower carries both male and female parts. Box huckleberry cannot set seed with its own pollen, and most wild patches are one plant, so plant two or more seedlings from different parents for berries. No serious pests or diseases trouble it. ## Sources - [Flora of North America, vol. 8: Gaylussacia brachycera](http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=250065721) - [NatureServe Explorer: Gaylussacia brachycera](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.132611/Gaylussacia_brachycera) - [Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program: Box Huckleberry fact sheet](https://www.naturalheritage.state.pa.us/factsheets/13727.pdf) - [Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program: Species and Natural Features List](https://www.naturalheritage.state.pa.us/SpeciesFeatures.aspx) - [Nicholson 2011, Little Big Plant, Box Huckleberry (Gaylussacia brachycera), Arnoldia 68(3): 11-18](https://doi.org/10.5962/p.251567) - [Center for Plant Conservation: Box Huckleberry plant profile](https://saveplants.org/plant-profile/1999/Gaylussacia-brachycera/Box-Huckleberry/) - [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Gaylussacia brachycera](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=GABR5) - [Trees and Shrubs Online (International Dendrology Society), from Bean: Gaylussacia brachycera](https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/gaylussacia/gaylussacia-brachycera/) ## Read before planting - [Ten planting mistakes that quietly kill trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/ten-planting-mistakes/index.html.md) - [Transplanting young trees: timing, water and protection](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/transplanting-young-trees/index.html.md) - [Protecting young trees from voles, rabbits, deer and squirrels](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/protecting-trees-from-animals/index.html.md) - [The habitat around a tree is part of the tree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/habitat-around-a-tree/index.html.md) - [Invasive vines and shrubs are what is killing your woods](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/invasive-vines-and-shrubs/index.html.md) - [Native trees and shrubs for butterflies and moths: host plants first, nectar second](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-for-butterflies-and-moths/index.html.md) ## Related - [Planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md): for a thrive, struggle or fail verdict on Box Huckleberry, add ?species=box-huckleberry with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address, for example ?species=box-huckleberry&zone=5&sun=part&moisture=average. - [Companion species for Box Huckleberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=box-huckleberry): the natives that share its ground and the plants that pair with it in a yard. - [Growth estimator](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md): how the height and trunk projections are made; the estimate itself runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/#species=box-huckleberry - [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Box Huckleberry is sown, in the chart for every species (treatment, cold days, depth, timing); the dated plan runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/#species=box-huckleberry - [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Box Huckleberry needs for a crop and how many to plant, in the table for every species; the planner runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/#plants=box-huckleberry:2 - [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Box Huckleberry flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species.