SALAL. WINTERGREEN.
Gaultheria Shallon, Pursh. Heath Family.
Shrubby, and one to three or more feet high or prostrate. Leaves.—Alternate; short-petioled; ovate to elliptical; pointed; two to four inches long; leathery; bristle-toothed when young; evergreen. Flowers.—Manzanita-like; slenderer; glandular-viscid; white or pinkish. Ovary.—Five-celled. Style single. Fruit.—Black; berry-like; aromatic; edible. (Otherwise like Arctostaphylos Manzanita.) Hab.—Coast woods, from Santa Barbara County to British Columbia.
The floor of the redwood forest in our northern coast counties is often carpeted with this little undershrub, while in other places one can wade waist-deep in it. It grows much larger north of us, and upon Vancouver Island it forms dense, impenetrable thickets. Its dark-purple berries have a very agreeable flavor, and form an important article of diet among the Oregon Indians, who call them "salal."