The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #96374   Message #1884720
Posted By: Big Jim from Jackson
13-Nov-06 - 11:22 AM
Thread Name: Folklore: significance of huckleberries
Subject: RE: Folklore: significance of huckleberries
Here in Missouri (about 150 miles south of Hannible, Huck's and Tom's "home town") we call the fruit of a relatively small bush a "huckleberry". It is much like a blueberry but has a redder cast to its color. It is also much smaller than the commercial blueberry. It's smaller than a pea but larger than a BB (ammunition for an air gun). I was introduced to them when I lived in the mountains near Knoxville, Tennessee. When I returned to Southeast Missouri at the edge of the Ozarks, I found a few of them growing an the hills around my relatives' farms. The bushes don't bear very heavily; some grow to a height of 10 feet or so, though most are smaller. The flavor is much better than the blander blueberry.