Gaultheria shallon
Common name: salal
Family: Ericaceae
Leaf: evergreen, thick, tough, egg-shaped leaves, shiny, dark green, lighter green on underside, finely and sharply serrated, 5-10 cm long
Flowers: bracteate raceme, one-sided, with 5-15 flowers at the ends of braches, each flower is urn-shaped, pink- to white, glandular to hairy, five lobed corolla.
Fruit: reddish to blue, rough surfaced, hairy, nearly spherical fruit, 6-11 mm in diameter. Edible with a natural pectin.
Habit: rhizomatous, spreading evergreen, sprawling to erect shrub; Form: mounding
Culture: Hardy in USDA zones 8-11. Prefers a moist (but not boggy) humus rich soil in semi-shade or full shade. Can also succeed, but not as well in full sun. A peat and moisture-loving species. In cultivation can take a while to establish and there tends to be a high loss rate. Otherwise it is rhizomatous and spreading and can be hard to get rid of. Can succeed in dry shade. Fairly drought tolerant once established. Hardy to about -20 degrees C. Succeeds when planted under trees.
Uses: understory plantings, keep in mind- can be difficult in cultivation to establish, groundcover, erosion control, hedging massing
Origin: Western North America from B.C. to California
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