Salal is a creeping to erect shrub that varies in height from 0.2-5 m (ca. 8 in to ca. 16.5 ft) tall. It has thick, leathery leaves that stay green all year long. The flowers are white or pinkish, urn-shaped, and produce reddish-blue to dark purple "berries." Actually, these "berries" consist mostly of fleshy sepals, the small leaflike structures found at the bases of the flowers. which surround the true fruit. Salal occurs in coniferous forests and on rocky bluffs to the seashore, from low to middle elevations throughout coastal British Columbia.