# salal

*Gaultheria shallon*

The edible portions commonly called salal berries are not true botanical berries, but rather swollen, fleshy sepals that have grown around the seed capsule.

- **Taxonomy:** Plantae › Tracheophyta › Magnoliopsida › Ericales › Ericaceae › Gaultheria
- **IUCN Red List status:** Least Concern
- **Population trend:** stable
- **Biome:** forest
- **Habitat:** Understory of coastal temperate rainforests, forest edges, coastal bluffs, and rocky slopes.
- **Diet:** Photoautotroph
- **Range:** Canada (British Columbia), United States (Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California)
- **Size:** 0.2–5 m tall, with leaves 5–10 cm long
- **Lifespan:** Decades (clonal colonies persist indefinitely)
- **Active:** diurnal
- **Threats:** Intensive commercial harvesting for the floral greenery trade, clear-cut logging, and localized urban expansion.
- **Safe to approach?:** Harmless. Salal presents no chemical, allergen, or physical hazards to humans. The ripe dark berries are edible and have a long history of human consumption, though proper plant identification is essential before ingesting any wild fruit.

## About

Gaultheria shallon is a leathery-leaved shrub in the heather family (Ericaceae), native to western North America. In English, it is known as salal , shallon , or simply gaultheria in Britain.

## Sources

- Plate: https://gaia-dex.com/species/d68bb2b8-27f1-4490-92af-6d0a914b18b2
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/48441
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaultheria shallon
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List category, as recorded by Gaia-Dex
- Photo: https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/288374864/medium.jpeg (Gavin Slater, CC-BY, via iNaturalist)

Habitat, diet, size and similar notes are AI-written summaries; check them against the linked sources before relying on them.