One to three feet high. Stems. - Shrubby, branching. Leaves. - Oval or oblong, sprinkled more or less with waxy, resinous atoms. Flowers. - White, reddish, or purplish, bell-shaped, growing in short, one-sided clusters. Calyx. - With five short teeth. Corolla. - Bell-shaped, with a five-cleft border. Stamens. - Ten. Pistil. - One. Fruit. - A black, bloomless, edible berry.

The flowers of the common huckleberry appear in May or June; the berries in late summer. The shrub abounds in rocky woods and swamps.