IMPORTANT WESTERN BROWSE PLANTS 133 
the State fiower of Washington and is apparently the only true 
rhododendron known in the Western States. It is a shrub 3 to 12 
feet high, or occasionally a small tree about 25 feet high (95, 67), 
with thick and leathery, evergeen leaves, and occurs in the mountains 
and along the coast from British Columbia to California (west of 
the Cascades and Sierra Nevada and chiefly in the coastal region). 
It is often abundant in peaty acid soils, frequently in those of gra- 
nitic, basaltic, and serpentine extraction. Coast rhododendron is 
commonly reported to be poisonous to sheep (17, 95, 67), and Ches- 
nut states that the leaves probably contain the virulently poisonous 
compound andromedotoxin. 
BLUEBERRY FAMILY (VACCINIACEAE) 
BLUEBERRIES, WHORTLEBERRIES, AND COWBERRIES (VACCINIUM SPP.) 
The blueberry-whortleberry-bilberry genus (Vaccinium spp.), in- 
cluding the genera Cyanococcus and Vitis-idaea of some authors, but 
excluding the genera or subgenera Batodendron, Oxycoccus, and 
Polycodium, is a large and widely distributed group of shrubs (occa- 
sionally small trees), of which the great majority occur in the Old 
World. At least 18 species, however, are found in the Western 
States and a few others are indigenous to the region from Alaska 
to British Columbia; all are acid-soil plants. As browse they vary 
trom worthless or poor to fair (occasionally fairly good, and 
rarely good), at least for sheep. In general, the taller species are 
rather more palatable than the low and sprawling ones, the leaves 
of the former often tending to be more delicate and succulent. Many 
of the species are esteemed for their edible berries. Species of 
Vaccinium are popularly and almost universally known in the West 
as huckleberries, but that term is properly applicable only to Gay- 
lussacia, a related, east-American and tropical-American genus. 
Big whortleberry (Vaccinium membranaceum, syn. V. macrophyl- 
lum) (pl. 10, B) is a smooth shrub 1 to 5 feet high, with relatively 
large, thin, and delicate leaves which turn a brilliant scarlet in 
the fail. It ranges in the high mountains from Alaska to the north- 
ern peninsula of Michigan, northern Wyoming, Idaho, and northern 
California. Local names for it include high(bush), large, and thin- 
leaf huckleberry, or biiberry. 
The species grows on all slopes, but is probably most common 
on north slopes, frequently occurring in almost pure stands, at 
elevations from 2,500 to 7,000 feet. It is found in both wet and dry 
sites, especially in sandy or gravelly loams, is often abundant in 
or near creek bottoms, both in the open and in dense shade of white 
fir, hemlock, etc., and is a characteristic species of open burns in 
the lodgepole type. Frequently associated with big whortieberry 
are showbrush, serviceberry, lonicera, mountain-ash, thimbleberry, 
wild rose, and species of lupine, arnica, and pentstemon. The flowers 
usually appear from about the middle of May (sometimes earlier) 
to June, occasionally lasting into July. The good-sized, sweetish, 
agreeably flavored, almost blackish berries ripen from early or 
middle August into October, August 20 to September 20 being 
about the average of maturity. 
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