Salvia is the largest genus of plants in the family Lamiaceae, with the number of species estimated to range from 700 to nearly 3,000. Members include shrubs, herbaceous perennials, and annuals. There are three main regions of radiation of Salvia:
The naming of distinct Salvia species has undergone regular revision, with many species being renamed, merged, and reclassified over the years. Salvia officinalis (common sage), for example, has been cultivated for thousands of years, yet has been named and described under six different scientific names since 1940 alone. At one time there were over 2,000 named species and subspecies. The most recent revision was done in 1988 by Gabriel Alziar of the Jardin botanique de la Ville de Nice—it consolidated the number of different species to approximately 700. As new discoveries are made, the taxonomic list of Salvia species will continue to change. [2] [3] [4]
The first significant accounting of the genus was done by George Bentham in 1832–1836, based on a similarity in staminal morphology between Salvia members. [5] His work, Labiatarum Genera et Species (1836), is still the most comprehensive organization of Salvia. Even though there were only 291 species at that time, he still considered the possibility of forming five or six genera, due to differences between certain groups of Salvia. Bentham eventually organized the genus into four subgenera and twelve sections, based on differences in the corolla, calyx, and stamens. In the last 100 years, that system of organization is generally not endorsed by botanists. [2]
The classification of Salvia has long been based on the genus' unusual pollination and stamen structure, which was presumed to have evolved only once. More recently, a study using DNA sequencing of Salvia species has shown that different versions of this lever mechanism have evolved at least three different times within Salvia. This clearly makes the genus non-monophyletic, which means that members of the genus have evolved from different ancestors, rather than sharing one common ancestor. The DNA analysis has shown that the genus may consist of as many as three different clades, or branches. [1] The study concluded that Salvia is not a natural genus—some of its branches have a closer relationship to other genera in the tribe Mentheae than to other Salvia species. [6]
* S. longispicata x S. farinacea
Other’s:
Nepeta is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae. The genus name, from Latin nepeta (“catnip”), is reportedly in reference to Nepete, an ancient Etruscan city. There are 295 accepted species.
The Lamiaceae or Labiatae are a family of flowering plants commonly known as the mint, deadnettle or sage family. Many of the plants are aromatic in all parts and include widely used culinary herbs like basil, mint, rosemary, sage, savory, marjoram, oregano, hyssop, thyme, lavender, and perilla, as well as other medicinal herbs such as catnip, salvia, bee balm, wild dagga, and oriental motherwort. Some species are shrubs, trees, or, rarely, vines. Many members of the family are widely cultivated, not only for their aromatic qualities, but also their ease of cultivation, since they are readily propagated by stem cuttings. Besides those grown for their edible leaves, some are grown for decorative foliage. Others are grown for seed, such as Salvia hispanica (chia), or for their edible tubers, such as Plectranthus edulis, Plectranthus esculentus, Plectranthus rotundifolius, and Stachys affinis. Many are also grown ornamentally, notably coleus, Plectranthus, and many Salvia species and hybrids.
Cerastium is a genus of annual, winter annual, or perennial flowering plants belonging to the family Caryophyllaceae. They are commonly called mouse-ears or mouse-ear chickweeds. There are 214 accepted species, found nearly worldwide but with the greatest concentration in the northern temperate regions. A number of the species are common weeds in fields and on disturbed ground.
Trigonella is a genus from the family Fabaceae. The best known member is the herb fenugreek. Members of the genus occur naturally in the Canary Islands, southern Europe, non‑tropical Africa, western and central Asia, the Indian subcontinent, and Australia.
Lepechinia is a genus of plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae. It includes several species of plants known commonly as pitchersages. Plants of this genus can be found in Central and South America, Mexico, California, Hispaniola, and Hawaii, although the species in Hawaii is probably a human introduction. Many of them bear attractive pitcher-shaped flowers, often in shades of purple. The genus was named for the Russian botanist Ivan Ivanovich Lepechin. In 2011, the two monotypic genera Chaunostoma and Neoeplingia were shown to be part of Lepechinia.
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