Salal Berries
- Nikhil G.
- Jul 6
- 2 min read
If you've walked almost any trail around Issaquah, you've probably walked right past salal without noticing it. It's the thick, leathery-leaved bush that grows under nearly every tree in Pacific Northwest forests. In late summer, it gets covered in small, dusty, deep-purple berries that most hikers never even look at.
Salal berries were one of the most important foods for Coast Salish peoples in this region. They were eaten fresh, mashed into cakes, and dried for winter, sometimes pressed into loaves that could be stored for months. Some old accounts say these dried salal cakes were even used as valuable trade goods along the coast. That's a big history for a small berry most people today have never tried.
The berries aren't actually "true" berries in the scientific sense. They come from a fleshy part of the flower. But that doesn't matter much when you're eating one, they taste mild and slightly sweet, with a texture close to a fig mixed with a blueberry.
The leaves are also useful. They're shiny, dark green, and very sturdy, so florists around the world use them in flower arrangements. There's even a chance a bouquet in another country has salal leaves that were cut here in the Cascade foothills.
Salal spreads fast underground through its roots, which is why it forms such thick patches in the forest. Loggers in the past didn't like it much, because it grows back over cleared land so quickly.
And you're not the only one who enjoys these berries.
Animals that eat salal:
Black bears
Black-tailed deer
Steller's jays and other songbirds
Band-tailed pigeons
Coyotes
Chipmunks and squirrels
Next time you're on a trail and see those small purple berries under shiny oval leaves, try one! You'll be tasting something that has fed people and animals in this area for a very long time.
Citations
Alexander, Catherine. Gaultheria shallon. 15 June 2023. Gardeners HQ, https://www.gardenershq.com/inthegarden/salal-gaultheria-shallon/. Accessed 7 July 2026.
“Salal | Pierce Conservation District, WA.” Pierce Conservation District, piercecd.org/477/Salal. Accessed 7 July 2026.