Gaultheria shallon

Salal

Family: Ericaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Salal is a California native shrub found in the northern coastal, Klamath, and central coastal regions in moist forest margins at elevations below 1,060 meters. Flowering from April to July, this plant produces white to pink urn-shaped flowers arranged in axillary racemes. Growing in clumped formations with erect stems 2 to 2 meters tall, it forms dense thickets with glandular-hairy stems. Its leaves are 3 to 13 centimeters long, with a minutely serrate edge and short-acuminate tips that range from obtuse to heart-shaped. The fruit develops as a dark purple to nearly blue-black berry, adding visual interest to the forest understory.

Habitat: Moist forest margins

Bloom period: Apr-Jul

Elevation: < 1060 m

Bioregions: NCo, KR, NCoRO, CCo, SnFrB, s SCoRO

California counties: Humboldt, Monterey, Mendocino, Del Norte, Marin, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Trinity, Santa Cruz, Siskiyou, Sonoma, San Francisco, Nevada, Butte, Alameda, Tulare

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.