Restoration and Mitigation Value: An important riparian species, the Salmonberry is helpful in preventing erosion. With its deep roots and suckering habits, these shrubs can hold soil intact at the edge of a stream, river, pond, ditch or on a steep slope. Like Thimbleberry, stands of Salmonberry flourish after soils have been disturbed by construction, logging or fire.

Historical / Cultural uses: Salmonberries were a popular plant among First Nations people. An infusion of the roots was used to stimulate the appetite and promote weight gain. Using the leaves, an infusion was administered to treat anemia, to shorten an overly long menstrual period and to ease labor pains. Dried leaves were chewed to cure diarrhea and stomach upset.

As a food source, Salmonberry was equally important. In spring, the sprouts were peeled and eaten raw with salmon meat or dried salmon spawn – hence the name. The berries were eaten fresh, as they are too juicy to dry into cakes for winter use. Families in some tribes “owned” stands of Salmonberry. They reserved the right to the first and second rounds of picking. This initial, and generally bountiful, harvest was used for a feast, after which the patch was open to all people.

Photo by JoAnn Onstott

Salmonberries are edible and vary in flavor from bush to bush and year to year. They are always juicy but the flavor is sometimes bland. Some people use the leaves in the same way that they use red raspberry leaves therapeutically. However, more research is needed to determine whether the active chemical components are the same between rubus species.

*Please use caution when preparing or eating any parts of a plant. Identification of the species and knowledge of a plant’s toxicity are both essential before using any plant species medicinally or otherwise. Please consult with a health professional before attempting to treat any ailment.

Propagation Techniques:  Propagation by seeds is difficult. First, fully ripe berries must be collected and mixed immediately with at least five times their volume of water. This combination is poured into an electric blender or food processor and blended at the lowest setting for only a couple of seconds or in short bursts until the berries have come apart. The mature seed will sink to the bottom and those that are not fully developed as well as the fruit pulp will float to the top. The liquid is poured off and the seed dried on a cloth. Some sources say that germination of these seeds is most successful when they have been warm stratified for three months and then cold stratified for an additional three months. This, of course, mimics the natural cycle of summer and then fall/winter. Seeds distributed in the droppings of birds or mammals are far more likely to succeed than those planted by humans, no matter what the stratification procedure. The gizzards in birds and the digestive enzymes in mammals break down the tough seed coat and speed germination.

Other means of propagating this plant include tip-layering, hardwood cuttings and division of offsets in autumn or early spring. Tip-layering involves bending the cane to ground level and securing it there so the tip can root. Incidentally, this is the way that blackberries naturally spread and it highly successful – just witness the proliferation of invasive blackberries in the Pacific Northwest. Hardwood cuttings are taken in the fall, as the plant goes dormant. A selection of a fully mature, straight stem is cut into pieces about 4 – 8” long with about four buds per piece. These cuttings are buried in a coarse cutting soil with two buds above the soil line and two buds below. The following spring, root growth may have begun but they should not be disturbed until autumn.

Plant Associations: Salmonberry is found growing with Elderberry (Sambucus spp.), Sword ferns (Polystichum munitum), Evergreen huckleberry (Vaccinium ovatum) and Fireweed (Epilobium angustifolium). Consider planting a selection of these plants together in your native garden. The Fireweed and ferns are particularly attractive at the base of the Salmonberry as they fill in the ground level. The Fireweed provides a display of color and beauty after the Salmonberry has finished flowering and fruiting and the Sword fern remains green year-round. Nature’s combinations are simply perfect and we can only aspire to such masterful design in our own gardens.