LOCATION HUCKLEBERRY             WA+ID

Established Series
Rev. JJR/BDG/RJS
09/2016

HUCKLEBERRY SERIES

The Huckleberry series consists of deep, well drained soils that formed in colluvium over residuum derived from phyllite, siltite, argillite, and quartzite with a mantle of loess and volcanic ash. These soils are on mountain slopes and ridge tops. Slopes are 5 to 70 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 1,325 mm and the mean annual air temperature is about 4.4 degrees C.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Medial over loamy-skeletal, amorphic over isotic Typic Vitricryands

TYPICAL PEDON: Huckleberry medial silt loam - woodland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)

Oe--0 to 2 cm; partially decomposed needles and twigs; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 3 cm thick)

A--2 to 15 cm; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) medial silt loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; weak very fine granular structure, soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine roots; many very fine irregular pores; 12 percent quartzite gravel; moderately acid (pH 5.8); clear smooth boundary. (0 to 15 cm thick)

Bw1--15 to 32 cm; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) medial silt loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/4) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine and fine, few medium and coarse roots; many very fine irregular pores; 8 percent quartzite gravel; moderately acid (pH 5.8); clear smooth boundary. (10 to 20 cm thick)

Bw2--32 to 56 cm; brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) gravelly medial silt loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/4) moist; weak fine subangular blocky parting to weak fine granular structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine, fine and coarse roots; common very fine irregular and coarse tubular pores; 15 percent quartzite gravel; strongly acid (pH 5.1); abrupt wavy boundary. (20 to 30 cm thick)

2Bw3--56 to 95 cm; very pale brown (10YR 7/4) very gravelly loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine, fine and medium roots; common very fine irregular pores; 50 percent quartzite gravel; very strongly acid (pH 5.0); gradual wavy boundary. (20 to 40 cm thick)

2C1--95 to 120 cm; light gray (10YR 7/2) extremely gravelly sandy loam, brown (10YR5/3) moist; massive; loose, loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine roots; 70 percent quartzite gravel, 15 percent quartzite cobbles; very strongly acid (pH 4.8); gradual wavy boundary. (20 to 30 cm thick)

2C2--120 to 143 cm; 95 percent quartzite gravel; loose, loose; few fine roots; very strongly acid (pH 4.8); gradual wavy boundary. (20 to 30 cm thick)

2R--143 cm; hard quartzite bedrock; very strongly acid (pH 4.7).

TYPE LOCATION: Stevens County, Washington; 200 meters west and 65 meters north of the southeast corner of section 11, T. 31 N., R. 38 E. Latitude - 48 degrees, 11 minute, 39.8 seconds North; Longitude - 117 degrees, 58 minutes, 38.64 seconds West; USGS Stensgar Mountain, WA Quadrangle.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Mean annual soil temperature - 3.5 to 6.0 degrees C.
Volcanic ash mantle*
*Thickness - 36 to 58 cm
*Moist bulk density - less than 0.9 g/cc
*Volcanic glass content - 5 to 30 percent
*Acid-oxalate extractable Al + 1/2 Fe - greater than 2.0 percent
*Phosphate retention - 55 to 70 percent
*15 bar water (air dried) - less than 12 percent
Depth to a lithic contact - 110 to 150 cm
Depth to greater than 90% rock fragments - 100 to 145 cm

C Horizon: present in some pedons; C material assumed to be younger volcanic ash ("T ash" - Mount St. Helens) is not related to spodic horizon development
Value - 6 or 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist
Chroma - 1 or 2 dry or moist
Texture - medial silt loam, medial loam, or medial very fine sandy loam
Clay content - 3 to 8 percent
Rock fragments - 0 to 14 percent channers
Reaction - pH 5.6 to 7.3

A Horizon (absent in some pedons):
Hue - 10YR or 7.5YR dry or moist
Value - 4 or 5 dry, 3 or 4 moist
Chroma - 2 to 4 dry or moist
Texture - medial silt loam or medial loam
Clay content - 8 to 10 percent
Rock Fragments - 0 to 25 percent gravel or channers; 0 to 25 percent total fragments
Reaction - pH 5.4 to 5.8

Bw1 Horizon:
Hue - 10YR, 7.5YR, or 5YR dry or moist
Value - 4 to 7 dry, 3 or 4 moist
Chroma - 4 or 6 dry, 3 or 4 moist
Texture - medial silt loam or medial loam
Clay content - 8 to 10 percent
Rock Fragments - 2 to 25 percent gravel or channers; 2 to 30 percent total rock fragment content
Reaction - pH 5.4 to 5.8

Bw2 Horizon:
Hue - 10YR or 7.5YR dry or moist
Value - 5 to 7 dry, 3 or 4 moist
Chroma - 4 to 8 dry, 4 or 6 moist
Texture - medial silt loam or medial loam
Clay content - 8 to 10 percent
Rock Fragments - 2 to 30 percent gravel, 0 to 25 percent channers, and 0 to 10 percent cobbles; 2 to 30 percent total rock fragment content
Reaction - pH 5.1 to 6.0

2Bw3 Horizon:
Hue - 10YR or 7.5YR dry or moist
Value - 5 to 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist
Chroma - 3 or 4 dry or moist
Texture - loam, silt loam or sandy loam
Clay content - 5 to 15 percent
Rock fragments - 10 to 50 percent gravel, 0 to 10 percent channers, and 0 to 60 percent cobbles; 35 to 70 percent total rock fragment content
Reaction - pH 4.7 to 5.6

2C1 Horizon:
Hue - 10YR or 2.5Y dry or moist
Value - 7 or 8 dry, 4 to 6 moist
Chroma - 2 to 4 dry or moist
Texture - sandy loam, loam or loamy sand
Clay content - 3 to 10 percent
Rock fragment content - 15 to 75 percent gravel; 10 to 70 percent cobbles; 0 to 35 percent stones; 40 to 85 percent total rock fragment content
Reaction - pH 4.4 to 5.6

2C2 horizon:
Rock fragments - greater than 90 percent gravel, cobbles, stones, channers, or flagstones

COMPETING SERIES:
Foss (WA) - are very deep

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landforms - mountain slopes and ridge tops
Elevations - 1,395 to 1,845 meters
Aspect - all aspects except at lower elevations which are northerly
Slopes - 5 to 70 percent
Parent material - colluvium over residuum derived from phyllite, siltite, argillite, and quartzite with a mantle of loess and volcanic ash.
Climate - subhumid with dry summers
Mean annual precipitation - 635 to 1,600 mm including 1.0 to 3.5 meters of snowfall
Mean annual air temperature - 3.0 to 5.5 degrees C.
Frost-free season - 75 to 105 days

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Aits, Buhrig, Huckle, Maki Newbell and Raisio soils. Aits and Newbell soils are on lower elevation, glaciated mountain slopes and have a thin volcanic ash mantle. Buhrig soils are on high elevation mountain slopes and are 50 to 100 cm to hard bedrock. Huckle soils are on mountain slopes and have a mean annual soil temperature of more than 6 degrees C. Maki soils are on south facing, lower elevation, glaciated mountain slopes and do not have a volcanic ash mantle. Raisio soils are on south facing, lower elevation, glaciated mountain slopes and have a mollic epipedon.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Well drained; medium to very rapid runoff; moderately high saturated hydraulic conductivity.

USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used for watershed, timber production, wildlife habitat and recreation. The natural vegetation is mainly subalpine fir, lodgepole pine, Engelmann spruce, western larch, and Douglas-fir. The understory is mainly myrtle pachystima, oneleaf foamflower, longtube twinflower, darkwoods violet, and big huckleberry. In northern Idaho, the overstory includes mountain hemlock and the understory includes queencup beadlily, common beargrass, and fool's huckleberry.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern Idaho and northeastern Washington; MLRA 43A. The series is of moderate extent.

SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Stevens County, Washington, l981.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:

Ochric epipedon - from 0 to 15 cm (Oe, A horizons);
Andic soil properties - from 2 to 56 cm (A, Bw1, Bw2 horizons);
Cambic horizon - from 15 to 95 cm (Bw1, Bw2, 2Bw3 horizons);
Lithic contact - at 143cm (2R horizon);
Particle-size control section - from 2 to 102 cm (A, Bw1, Bw2, 2Bw3, part of the 2C1 horizons)

Note -- 2 to 56 cm meets medial family requirement and 56 to 102 cm meets the loamy-skeletal requirement.

Huckleberry soils have a cryic temperature regime and an udic moisture regime.

Classification History:
Revised 9/1991 based on Andisol order in Soil Taxonomy. Revised from Medial over loamy-skeletal, mixed Entic Cryandepts to Ashy over loamy-skeletal, mixed Typic Vitricryands.
Revised 1/2002 from Ashy over loamy-skeletal, mixed Typic Vitricryands to Ashy over loamy-skeletal, amorphic over isotic Typic Vitricryands.
Revised 11/2015 from Ashy over loamy-skeletal, amorphic over isotic Typic Vitricryands to Medial over loamy skeletal, amorphic over isotic Typic Vitricryands.

Additional Information:
The type location was moved to the present location in Stevens County. This pedon better reflects the modal concept; determined by MLRA 43A investigations in Soil Survey areas of Kootenai County, Idaho (ID606) and Stevens County, WA (WA065).

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.