shallon (and common name salal) – derived from Chinook Jargon salla (Chinook kl-kwu-shá-la), a trade language used by Native Americans in the PNW

Native range: W. North America

Leaves:

• alternate
• simple
• broadly ovate, sort of lemon-shaped
• dull and rough texture
• finely and sharply serrate
• short-petioled
• leathery

Flowers:

• inflorescence – multi branches (panicles)
• urn-shaped
• 5-merous
• 10 stamens
• white w/ pink tinges

Fruit:

• red to purple-black colored berry
• edible
• often w/ persistent style

Other characteristics:

• small evergreen shrub
• 5–6 ft. high
• new shoots often red

Relevant info:

• popular foliage incorporated into floral bouqets
• in some areas along the NW Coast, the most plentiful and important fruit for Native Maerican tribes and First Nations
• eaten fresh and dried into cakes
• invasive in English, where botanist David Douglas brought seed in 1828 for use as a garden ornamental

Ecology & Adaptations:

• native from SE Alaska/Central BC south to California; in Washington, chiefly in the Olympic and Cascade Mountains
• found in woods and coniferous forests, rocky bluffs, to the seashore
• from sea level to moderate elevation in the mountains
• among the most common forest understory shrubs in PNW, in both drier coniferous forests and some wet or boggy coniferous forests
• may develop into thickets
• vegetative reproduction by suckering, sprouting from rhizomes or stem base, and layering
• most of the plant’s biomass is below ground in the root/rhizome network
• pollinated by bees
• seed dispersal – birds and other animals eat the fruit
• tolerates low nutrient conditions:
  • evergreen leaves help conserve resources
  • mycorrhizae specific to Ericaceae aid nutrient uptake and enable the plant to tolerate low nutrient and acidic conditions (in acidic conditions, metals and become more available and toxic, while essential nutrients can become less available to plants)
• tolerates shade – leaf area increases (and leaf thickness decreases) in lower light conditions, which maximizes light-capturing area and minimizes investment in photosynthesizing structure
• tolerates salt spray, which enables it to grow on coastal bluffs
• herbivory and microbial protection:
  • tannins in leaves
  • although elk and deer browse on the leaves and twigs in winter
• fire tolerance – although the species grows in regions where fire is infrequent, its extensive underground network and ability to regenerate vegetatively enable it to survive fire damage