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Gaultheria shallon
Also called Shallon, Shallal
Salal is an evergreen shrub native to western North America, grown for ground cover and its edible berries. It spreads readily and tolerates shade, making it a practical choice for under-tree planting.
Gaultheria shallon is an evergreen shrub in the heather family (Ericaceae), native to western North America. Common names include salal (), shallon, or (mainly in Britain) gaultheria.
Salal is found in Southeast Alaska, British Columbia, Washington and Oregon and along much of the California coast. It grows as far north as Baranof Island, Alaska. Western poison oak is a common associate in the California Coast Ranges.
The dark blue berries and young leaves are edible and efficient appetite suppressants, both with a unique flavor. The berries were a significant food resource for some Native American tribes, who ate them fresh and dried them into cakes. They were also used as a sweetener, and the Haida used them to thicken salmon eggs. The leaves of the plant were also sometimes used to flavor fish soup.
Scarlet Snowberry · Gaultheria fragrantissima · Creeping snowberry · Gaultheria insipida · Prickly Heath · Snowberry · Eastern teaberry · Snowberry
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Gaultheria shallon by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
