Wilderness Survival: Salal (Gaultheria shallon)

Taxonomy
Family: Ericaceae
Genus: Gaultheria
Species: Shallon
Common names: Salal, gaultheria, shallon

Description

Twigs are reddish-brown with shredding bark. The shiny, dark green, alternate leaves are thick and leathery. Small, urn-shaped flowers are borne in showy clusters on terminal and subterminal bracteate racemes (offset nodes). The white, pink, or deep-rose tinged flowers are sticky and glandular.

Growth
Salal grows in warm, moist to dry, montane to lowland coastal conifer forests of the Pacific Northwest. Salal grows well in partial shade, although vigor may be poor beneath a dense canopy. This perennial shrub persists in sun or shade. Salal commonly occurs with species such as red alder, salmonberry, vine maple, swordfern, rhododendron, vaccinium, dwarf Oregon grape, Pacific dogwood, tanoak, threeleaf foamflower, and deerfern in western hemlock or western hemlock-western redcedar forests. In redwood forests, salal grows with dwarf Oregon grape, evergreen huckleberry, willow (Salix spp.),California hazel, Pacific madrone (Arbutus menziesii), California laurel (Umbellularia californica), and rhododendron.

Uses
Food: Berries are edible. They are sweet, can be dried into cakes. Can also be made into tea.
Medicinal: Tea used for cramping and inflammation (bladder inflammation, stomach or duodenal ulcers, heartburn, indigestion, sinus inflammation, diarrhea, moderate fever, inflamed / irritated throat). Poultice used for bug bites/stings.