Dangleberry, a bushy clonal shrub from heather family, is abundant in Alper Preserve. This is a plant of eastern North America ranging from New Hampshire to Georgia. In Massachusetts it grows mostly in oak/hickory forests. During the second half of August, it produces rather large, juicy, and sweet blue berries. They ripen on small, weak branchlets that dangle when loaded with heavy fruit (usually there is only 1 to 3 ripe berries per branchlet). Another name for dangleberry is blue huckleberry. It is closely related to black huckleberry, the most common shrub of our pitch pine/oak forest. Both huckleberries are covered with tiny glands, especially on the leaf undersides.

August 24

May 22