Taxon Report

Vaccinium coccineum Piper

Siskiyou Mountains huckleberry

Print Report

Taxon Summary

Vaccinium coccineum, commonly known as Siskiyou Mountains huckleberry, is a perennial deciduous shrub in the Ericaceae that is found in California and elsewhere. It occurs within Lower montane coniferous forest, and Upper montane coniferous forest, growing at elevations from 1095 to 2135 meters. Vaccinium coccineum is ranked 3.3, Plants About Which We Need More Information, A Review List; Not very threatened in California.

Classification


Scientific Name:	Vaccinium coccineum Piper
Common Name:	Siskiyou Mountains huckleberry
Family:	Ericaceae
Element Code:	PDERI181N0
USDA Plants Symbol:
Synonyms/Other Names:

Ecology and Life History


Lifeform:	perennial deciduous shrub
Blooming Period: Jun-Aug	Jun-Aug
Elevation:	1095-2135 (3595-7005)
General Habitats:	Lower montane coniferous forest, Upper montane coniferous forest
Microhabitat:	Serpentine (often)
Microhabitat Details:

Conservation Status


CA Rare Plant Rank:	3.3
Global Rank:	G3Q
State Rank:	S3
State List:	None
Fed List:	None
Other Status:
CRPR Changes:	changed from 3.3 to 3.3 on 2013-02-01

Occurrence Data from the CNDDB


Total Occurrences:	0
Element Occurrence Ranks:
Excellent (A)	0
Good (B)	0
Fair (C)	0
Poor (D)	0
None (X)	0
Unknown (U)	0

Location


California Endemic: False
California Counties and Islands: Name (Code)
Butte (BUT), Nevada (NEV), Plumas (PLU), Sierra (SIE), Yuba (YUB)
Quads: Name (Quad Code)
Alleghany (3912047), American House (3912161), Bucks Lake (3912182), Downieville (3912057), Graniteville (3912046), Haskins Valley (3912172), La Porte (3912068), Sierra City (3912056), Soapstone Hill (3912173), Storrie (3912183), Strawberry Valley (3912151)

Threat List Data from the CNDDB


Threat List Total:	0
EOs with Threat Listed:	Total EOs	% of EOs
	0	0 %

Notes



How common is this taxon in OR? Plants from Plumas NF are not morphologically or genetically distinct from V. membranaceum. Plants from Klamath Ranges (SIS Co.) have lighter-colored berries than V. membranaceum and may be genetically distinct; needs further study. A synonym of V. membranaceum in TJM (1993) and TJM 2. See Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 31:75-78 (1918) for original description.
Threats:

Taxonomy:

Selected References

CRPR List Deletion on 2013-02-01

Citation California Native Plant Society, Rare Plant Program. 2025. Rare Plant Inventory (online edition, v9.5.1). Website https://www.rareplants.cnps.org [accessed 18 November 2025].