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Flower:Salal
Family:Heath
Genus / Species:Gaultheria shallon
Notes:Lewis & Clark first described this plant in detail while wintering at Fort Clatsop in 1806. The natives called it 'Shal-lon' and commonly preserved the berries by pounding them and baking them into large 10-15 lb loaves, which later would be broken and stired in with cold water.
In 1825 when David Douglas, the great plant collector, first arrived by ship at the mouth of the Columbia River he wrote: 'On stepping on the shore Gaulthera shallon was the first plant I took in my hands. So pleased was I that I could scarcely see anything but it.'
Photo:

Waxmyrtle Trail, Siltcoos Recreation Area - - - October 21, 2007

Photo 2:

St Pertetua Trail, Siuslaw National Forest - - November 4, 2004

Guide:Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast by Pojar & MacKinnon / Douglas of the Forest by Davies / Original Journals of the Lewis & Clark Expedition Vol IV edited by Thwaites