Gaultheria shallon – Salal
These are easy fruits to love – dark blue to purple, juicy, sweet, and easy to pick whether on a field trip/hike or planning for homemade jam or jelly. Both the common name and the species name are a takeoff of a native North American name further east. It too is an excellent erosion control plant although it takes some extra effort to get it established. Once settled in, it can range from a foot in height to over six feet or more if given adequate moisture. At Kalaloch on the Olympic Peninsula, one can walk under old stands of it battered down at their tops by the winds.
(Notice the low Oregon grape, M. nervosa, nestled in this planting)
