PNW Native
Ranges along the west coast of North America, west of the Cascades and from southern Alaska through northern California.
Shrubs range from 1-8 ft / 0.5 -5 m tall. Growth habit ranges from creeping ground cover to erect thickets. Leaves are large (1.5-5 in / 5 - 10 cm long), oval, finely serrated, leathery, and evergreen. Flowers are small (3/8 in / .75 - 1 cm), urn-shaped with five petals, in clusters of 5-15, and white or light pink. Stems near ends with flowers are reddish, and flowers grow into deep blue-purple berries (3/8 in. / 0.5 - 1 cm long). (all 3 book sources)
"In many areas, salal is browsed at least moderately by deer and elk. However, use varies geographically as well as seasonally. Salal is heavily browsed by black-tailed deer on the Queen Charlotte Islands of British Columbia. Persistent leaves enhance winter value, and in many areas, including the Oregon Coast Range, salal is an important winter food for black-tailed deer and mule deer . Deer use is often heaviest when other low-growing species become covered with snow. High elevation stands are generally not used by deer in winter.
Salal fruit is readily eaten by many birds and mammals. The band-tailed pigeon, wrentit, ruffed, spruce, and blue grouse, and numerous songbirds feed on "berries" when available . In some areas, blue grouse chicks exhibit a marked preference for salal fruit, and both chicks and adults consume large numbers during July and August. Some hummingbird use of flowers has also been reported. Black-tailed deer of western Washington consume the flowers of salal. Mammals such as the red squirrel, black bear, black-tailed deer, Townsend's chipmunk, and Douglas' squirrel also feed on salal fruit.
Salal provides important cover for a variety of wildlife species. Western hemlock/dwarf Oregon grape-salal, western hemlock/vine maple-salal, and Sitka spruce-salal communities offer good hiding cover for deer and elk, although dense shrub development can sometime limit big game use. Red huckleberry-salal shrubfields protect black-tailed deer from winter winds." [1]
Salal spreads through rhizomes and forms dense, ground-covering thickets. Like other members of Gaultheria, salal partners with symbiotic, nitrogen- and phosphorous- fixing mycorrhizal fungi to grow readily in areas with poor soil. Salal is the predominant ground cover in many local drier coniferous forests in the PNW, including the forests to the south and east of the Shoreline Community College campus. Salal prefers canopies with gaps to allow sunlight passage, but they can survive for years in shady forests by producing large, thin "shade leaves". When sunlight returns, the thicket becomes more dense and produces smaller "sun leaves". (DM)
"Fruit of salal was traditionally utilized by many native peoples of the Northwest. The spicy fruit was eaten fresh, dried, or mashed into cakes. Leaves were dried, mixed with kinnikinnick (Arctostaphylos spp.) and smoked. Teas made from the leaves were used to treat coughs, tuberculosis, and diarrhea.
Salal is cultivated as an ornamental. Plants are used in landscaping and serve as an excellent ground cover. Salal can be used to attract wildlife species to backyard gardens.
David Douglas preferred salal as a choice ornamental and brought it back to Britain in 1828. (PM)
The sweet, "bland but pleasant" fruit can be used alone or mixed with other wild berries to make jellies or preserves. Approximately 8 minutes of harvesting is required to collect 0.44 pint (250 ml) of fruit. Many species of Gaultheria contain oil of wintergreen and can be used as flavoring agents." [1] Salal berries have a more spicy, mild flavor compared to their more popular but less abundant relatives: the prized huckleberries. (DM)
Salal berries were one of the most important staple foods for many tribes of the Northwest coast. In many Coast Salish languages, their equivalent of the month of August is named after the ripening of Salal. Preserved dried cakes of salal could weigh up to 15 lbs each. Dried berry cakes made from salal, currents, and elderberries, (LC) but cakes made exclusively from salal were reserved for respected family groups at least in the Kwakiutl tribe (DM). These berry cakes were wrapped in skunk cabbage leaves and eaten as winter food, dipped in seal oil or candlefish grease. (DM) The Kwakwaka'wakw ate the berries raw at grand feasts dipped in grease. The Haida thickened salmon roe with salal. The Ditidaht chewed young salal leaves as a hunger suppressant and used the leafy branches in pit-cooking. (PM)
A purple dye can be made from these berries. (DM)
"Once established, salal spreads aggressively and is well-suited for use as a ground cover on erosive banks, roadcuts, highway right-of-ways, and other types of reclaimed ground. It can also aid in stabilizing coastal dunes and in protecting vulnerable watersheds...
The attractive foliage is used by florists under the name "lemon leaf" as an addition to cut flowers." [1] Salal is the PNW native plant utilized most heavily by the floral arrangement industry. (DM)
[1] Tirmenstein, D. 1990. Gaultheria shallon. In: Fire Effects Information System,. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/gausha/all.html.
