Salal or shallon (Gaultheria shallon, Ericaceae) is a leathery-leave shrub native to western North America. Its dark blue "berries" (actually swollen sepals) are edible and are efficient appetite suppressants, with a unique flavor. Salal berries were a significant food resource for native people, who both ate them fresh and dried them into cakes. They were also used as a sweetener, and the Haida used them to thicken salmon eggs. The leaves of the plant were also sometimes used to flavor fish soup.