Flora of North America species comparison

The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Gaultheria

Gaultheria shallon

gaultheria, salal, snowberry, wintergreen

salal, shallal
Habit Shrubs or subshrubs, (sometimes rhizomatous or stoloniferous and rooting at nodes). Shrubs, creeping, not mat-forming, rhizomatous.
Stems

erect or procumbent;

twigs glabrous or hairy.

erect to partially erect, (greenish), 50–200+ cm, ± glandular-hairy, glabrescent.
Leaves

persistent, aromatic;

blade ovate, elliptic, or orbiculate to subcordate or reniform, coriaceous, margins serrate, crenate, or ciliate, plane or revolute, surfaces glabrous or hairy;

venation reticulodromous or brochidodromous.

blades oval to ovate or orbiculate to reniform, 4–8+ cm, base rounded or cordate, margins serrulate (teeth fimbriate apically), apex mucronate/apiculate or aristate, surfaces glabrous.
Inflorescences

axillary, racemes, 2–12-flowered, sometimes flowers solitary; (bracteoles closely subtending flowers).

axillary, drooping, secund racemes;

peduncle deep pink to red, 7–15+ cm, densely glandular-hairy;

bracts white to light pink, deltate, 4–6 mm, not exceeding sepals, glandular-hairy marginally.
Pedicels

white, 7–10 mm, densely glandular-hairy;

bracteoles 1–5, pinkish white, parallel-veined, oblanceolate, 3–5 mm, densely glandular-hairy.
Flowers

sepals (4–)5, connate basally to nearly their entire lengths, (sometimes exceeding petals), ovate, deltate, or cordate;

petals (4–)5, connate ca. 1/2 to nearly their entire lengths, white or cream to pink, corolla urceolate to campanulate, lobes much shorter than tube;

stamens 8 or 10, included, (inserted at base of ovary);

filaments straight, flattened, usually widest proximally, glabrous or hairy, sometimes papillose, without spurs;

anthers with 2–4 awns or without awns, dehiscent by pores with ventral slits, (white disintegration tissue present dorsally along connective);

pistil 4–5-carpellate;

ovary 5-locular;

stigma truncate or capitate.

sepals 5, distinct nearly to base, dark pink to red, narrowly deltate, 3.5–5 mm, glandular-hairy (hairs reddish);

petals 5, connate nearly their entire lengths, white to light pink, 7–8 mm, densely glandular-hairy, corolla narrowly urceolate, lobes 1 mm;

filaments widest proximally, glabrous, papillose;

anthers with 2 apical, bifurcating awns, dehiscent by subterminal pores proximal to awns.
Fruits

capsular, 5-valved, globose, fleshy, (surrounded by persistent, fleshy calyx).

black-purple, 6–8 mm wide.
Seeds

20–80+, ovoid;

testa smooth.

x

= 11, 12, 13.

2n

= 22, 44.

Gaultheria

Gaultheria shallon
Phenology Flowering May-early Jul; fruiting late Jul–Sep.
Habitat Woods and transition zones, moist soils, rocky or sandy cliffs, coastal bluffs
Elevation 0-1300 m (0-4300 ft)
Distribution
from USDA
North America; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies (Hispaniola, Windward Islands); e Asia; Pacific Islands (New Zealand); Australia (including Tasmania); mostly temperate or montane in tropical latitudes
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AK; CA; OR; WA; BC [Introduced in nw Europe]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Species ca. 115 (6 in the flora).

Gaultheria is characterized by its fruit and by the stamens having flattened filaments and awned anthers. All of the species are woody to varying degrees; the growth form varies from erect or spreading shrubs to procumbent or creeping and mat-forming. Eastern Asia and the Andes mountains of South America are centers of diversity for this genus.

In North America, the fruits and leaves of Gaultheria are a food source for wildlife, and native peoples have medicinal and food uses for some species. Oil of wintergreen (methyl salicylate) is found in the leaves and fruits of some species.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Fruits of Gaultheria shallon are a food source for animals, and the evergreen leaves provide additional food throughout the winter. This species has been used as a vegetative cover in disturbed areas because it spreads aggressively. The fresh and dried or smoked fruits were an important food of native peoples throughout its range. The evergreen leaves are used commercially in floral arrangements.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Erect or creeping shrubs; inflorescences racemes
→ 2
1. Creeping or spreading shrubs or subshrubs; inflorescences solitary flowers or with 2-3 flowers per node
→ 3
2. Leaf blades 1.5-3.5 cm; peduncles and pedicles sparsely hairy; sepals glabrous; fruits white.
G. pyroloides
2. Leaf blades 4-8+ cm; peduncles and pedicels densely glandular-hairy; sepals glandular-hairy (hairs reddish); fruits black-purple.
G. shallon
3. Plants creeping, mat-forming, roots adventitious or fibrous; stems repent, usually densely strigose or hirtellous, sometimes glabrous
→ 4
3. Plants creeping or spreading, not mat-forming, adventitious roots absent; stems decumbent, branches ascending to erect, lanate, often glabrescent
→ 5
4. Stems densely strigose; leaf blades 0.3-1 cm; flowers 4-merous; anthers with 2 bifurcating awns; fruits white.
G. hispidula
4. Stems usually hirtellous, sometimes glabrous; leaf blades 1-2.5 cm; flowers 5-merous; anthers without awns; fruits red.
G. humifusa
5. Leaf blades ovate to subcordate; bracteoles 1-3 pairs; petals 3-4 mm; filaments glabrous, base with rounded, auriclelike projections; anthers without awns; w North America.
G. ovatifolia
5. Leaf blades obovate to oval or orbiculate; bracteoles absent; petals 8-10 mm; filaments lanate-tomentose, base slightly widened; anthers with 2 awns; e North America.
G. procumbens
Source FNA vol. 8, p. 512. Author: Debra K. Trock. FNA vol. 8, p. 514.
Parent taxa Ericaceae > subfam. Vaccinioideae Ericaceae > subfam. Vaccinioideae > Gaultheria
Sibling taxa
G. hispidula, G. humifusa, G. ovatifolia, G. procumbens, G. pyroloides
Subordinate taxa
G. hispidula, G. humifusa, G. ovatifolia, G. procumbens, G. pyroloides, G. shallon
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 395. (1753): Gen. Pl. ed. 5, 187. 1754 , Pursh: Fl. Amer. Sept. 1: 283, plate 12. (1813)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



Type/paste one or more Latin names into the boxes above; matching taxa will show up below the box as you type. You can use the up/down arrow keys to move through the list.

(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in Flora of North America yet, or it's listed under a synonym. And please note that Flora of North America is still missing several plant families, including Apiaceae, Boraginaceae, and Polemoniaceae.)

Choose a data source: Flora of North America, OregonFlora, UW Burke Herbarium

The species comparison tool is brought to you by:
Northwest Wildflowers