salal

Photo: Robert Flogaus-Faust — CC BY 4.0 · source

Survives zone 6 through 9

Harvest calendar

Best planted in early spring after your last frost, or in fall before the ground freezes, depending on your climate.

Not the medicinal wintergreen flavor of its genus-mate G. procumbens — salal berries are genuinely sweet, often compared to blueberry with a spicy, winey note, and were a First Food and one of the most heavily relied-on berries for many Pacific Northwest Coast peoples, eaten fresh, dried into cakes, or mixed with oolichan grease. Evergreen; low.

Hardiness

Zone 6–9

Habit

Shrub

Edible part

Fruit

Ripens

July–Sept

Mature size

Spreading evergreen shrub 0.5–2 m, reaching 3–5 m in deep shade; colonises by rhizome, so contain it or give it room

Light

Shade to partial — fruits in shade (taller in shade, denser in light)

Soil pH

4.0–5.5 — ⚠ STRICTLY ACID-LOVING (calcifuge). Will die on alkaline soil; use ericaceous compost + rainwater

Environment

Forest

Native range

Pacific North America — coastal British Columbia and south-east Alaska south through Washington and Oregon to northern California

Status

Both wild and cultivated

Years to fruit

2–3 yrs

Growth speed

Moderate

Spacing

90 cm (35 in) apart — about 1.2 per m² (1.1 per 10 sq ft)

Leaf shape

Alternate, broadly oval to rounded, 5–10 cm long, thick and leathery with finely toothed margins and a sharp tip — glossy dark green, and the reason it is cut in quantity for the florist trade as "lemon leaf".

Root system

Extensive spreading rhizomes forming dense long-lived colonies — rhizome expansion of around 44 cm a year has been recorded, and thickets can persist for centuries. Ericoid mycorrhizal. Site it where that spread is wanted: it smothers weeds, and equally it smothers smaller neighbours.

Fruit description

Dark blue to near-black berry-like fruit about 6–10 mm across, hairy, borne along arching racemes. Sweet and mildly earthy — somewhere between blueberry and currant — and a staple dried fruit of Pacific Northwest First Nations. Ripens late summer into autumn.

Propagation

Division of established clumps in early spring is the most reliable route for a gardener; rhizome cuttings taken in late autumn can be planted straight into prepared ground and fruit within about two years. Seed is fine and slow.

Pollination

Self-fertile

The edible parts listed above are a starting point, not a field guide. Identify a plant with certainty — ideally against a local authority — before eating any part of it, and read the full disclaimer. Spotted something wrong? Report it.