Red huckleberry is a deciduous shrub, native to the northwest, that often grows from old tree stumps or on nurse logs. Its leaves are small, rounded, and borne on distinctive bright-green twigs. Its flowers are small, pendulant, inconspicuous and greenish-white in spring, and it produces juicy pink-red fruits in mid- to late-summer.

Red huckleberries are edible and, although quite tart, are eaten fresh and widely used for pies, jams, and jellies. The leaves can be used fresh or dried to make tea. Red huckleberry branches are used for floral arrangements. Red huckleberry plants traditionally served as a source of both food and medicine for native peoples.