Salal (Gaultheria shallon)

November 13, 2008

Story and Artwork by Brian F. Harrison

   On everyone’s list of Top Ten Plants That Define the Pacific Northwest, you’ll probably find Sitka spruce, red alder, hemlock, Douglas fir and western red cedar. But look between and beneath those fine trees and you’ll likely encounter another Top Ten contender: the salal, more humble maybe, but ubiquitous in northwest forests, clearcuts, roadsides, and indeed everywhere it can spread its rhizomes.

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