Photo: Eric Hunt, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Farkleberry

Vaccinium arboreum

Also called sparkleberry, tree sparkleberry, tree huckleberry, winter huckleberry.

The tree of the blueberry genus, with fragrant white bells in spring, glossy leaves that redden in fall and black berries that hang into winter.

Wildlife valueDrought tolerantShowy flowersFall colorWinter interest

Type: Small tree
Mature height: 10–25 ft
USDA zones: 6–10
Growth rate: Medium
Sun: Full, Part
Soil moisture: Dry, Average
Grows wild in: Sandy barrens, dry uplands, rocky ground, the forest understory, old fields and edges
Native range: 17 states, north to Illinois, south to Florida and west to Texas
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Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia
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Farkleberry grows as a crooked small tree or a tall shrub, and its twisting trunks shed pale bark to show red-brown beneath. It differs from our deerberry and black huckleberry in three ways. It grows far taller, its leathery leaves often stay green through a southern winter, and its fruit is dry and mealy. Highbush blueberries grafted onto its roots can grow on dry upland soils of higher pH. Grow it as a small specimen tree in a dry, sandy yard, or as the tall layer of a bird planting.

Size, growth and what to expect

Farkleberry grows at a medium pace, about a foot and a half a year in our growth estimator. Most plants make a shrub or small tree 10 to 25 feet tall, and a few reach 30.

White bells a quarter inch long hang in short sprays from April to June, and bees work them for nectar. The shiny black berries ripen from September to December and hang on into winter. Songbirds, grouse, wild turkeys, small mammals and black bears eat them.

It grows wild from central Florida west to Oklahoma, southeastern Kansas and the Edwards Plateau of Texas. It reaches north to Virginia and southern Illinois and Indiana. Its home is sandy or rocky, usually dry woods, dunes and old fields.

How to grow Farkleberry

Farkleberry grows in full sun or part shade, including the light shade of pines and oaks. It wants a sandy or rocky soil that drains well, acid to near neutral, and once rooted it stands drought and heat. It takes ground that is wet at times. Set trees 10 feet apart, and keep each one 15 feet from a wall and 15 feet from overhead wires.

Saplings ship bare-root or potted. Plant them dormant, from leaf fall until bud swell, in a hole wider than the roots and no deeper. Set the root flare at the soil line, put the native soil back in, and mulch with pine straw or oak leaves, clear of the trunk. The seed is small and needs light, and a cold spell helps it sprout. Keep cleaned seed damp in the refrigerator for 60 to 90 days. Then sow it on the surface of a moist, slightly acid mix, uncovered, in light.

Water weekly through the first summer, then only in a long drought. Deer browse it and rabbits eat the leaves and twigs, so cage young trees for two or three years. Prune to one trunk for a small tree, or leave it to grow as a tall, irregular shrub.

Farkleberry sets almost no seed with its own pollen, so plant two or more seedlings from different parents for fruit. Crops vary from year to year, and a tree heavy with flowers can still set little fruit. It has no serious pests or diseases, but the leaves can yellow on strongly alkaline ground.

Heights and zones are typical ranges for the species in cultivation; local conditions and seed source shift them.

Sources (10)