Salvia sclarea, the clary or clary sage, is a biennial or short-lived herbaceous perennial in the genus Salvia. It is native to the northern Mediterranean Basin, along with some areas in north Africa and Central Asia. The plant has a lengthy history as a medicinal herb, and is currently grown for its essential oil.
Salvia columbariae is an annual plant that is commonly called chia, chia sage, golden chia, or desert chia, because its seeds are used in the same way as those of Salvia hispanica (chia). It grows in California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Sonora, and Baja California, and was an important food for Native Americans. Some native names include pashí from Tongva and it'epeš from Ventureño.
Salvia pratensis is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae, native to Europe, western Asia and northern Africa. The specific epithet pratensis refers to its tendency to grow in meadows. It also grows in scrub edges and woodland borders.
Salvia greggii is a herbaceous perennial native to a long, narrow area from southwest Texas, through the Chihuahuan Desert and into the Mexican state of San Luis Potosi, typically growing in rocky soils at elevations from 5,000 to 9,000 ft. It was named and described in 1870 by botanist Asa Gray after Josiah Gregg, a merchant, explorer, naturalist, and author of the American Southwest and Northern Mexico who found and collected the plant in Texas. It is closely related to and frequently hybridizes with Salvia microphylla. Contrary to its common name, it blooms throughout the summer and autumn.
Salvia lemmonii is an aromatic species of sage that is native to the United States and Mexico. It grows to a height of between 30 to 90 cm and has ovate leaves which are between 2.5 to 5 cm long.
Salvia brandegeei, the Santa Rosa Island sage or Brandegee's sage, is a perennial evergreen shrub that grows to 3–4 feet in its native habitat. For many years, it was thought to be native only to Santa Rosa Island, one of the Channel Islands of California. In the 1960s and 1970s six colonies were found in Baja California. In cultivation, the plant will reach 4–5 feet tall and up to 7 feet (2.1 m) wide. It has dark green scalloped leaves, about 3-4 inches long and 0.5 inch wide. The pale lavender flowers are about 0.5 inch long, in tightly spaced whorls. The violet-gray calyx, combined with the wide open flower lips, make it a very showy flower.
Salvia sinaloensis is a perennial native only to the Mexican state of Sinaloa, most often in the foothills of the Sierra Madre Occidental range. It has been available to gardeners since the 1980s. It has many graceful 1 ft. long stems, grows rapidly, and spreads on underground runners into a clump about 1 ft. wide. The flowers are an intense true blue, with the slightest hint of violet, a spot of white on the lower lip, and less than 1 inch long. The wine colored calyx remains long after the flower has dropped its petals.
Salvia desoleana is a herbaceous perennial shrub native to the island of Sardinia in the Mediterranean. It is endemic to four or five specific locations on the island in sunny locations on limestone, granitic, and igneous rock. Salvia desoleana was named for the botanist Luigi Desole, and was first described in 1982.
Salvia is the largest genus of plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae, with nearly 1000 species of shrubs, herbaceous perennials, and annuals. Within the Lamiaceae, Salvia is part of the tribe Mentheae within the subfamily Nepetoideae. It is one of several genera commonly referred to as sage, it includes the widely produced herb used in cooking, Salvia officinalis.
Salvia littae is a herbaceous perennial native to the Mexican state of Oaxaca, growing at elevations of 8,000-10,000 feet. The plants typically grow in some shade in groups at the edge of moist oak forest, or cloud forest.
Salvia lycioides is a perennial native to a wide area ranging from west Texas and New Mexico in the U.S., south through Mexico to the state of San Luis Potosi. It typically grows on dry limestone hills and canyons above 5,000 feet elevation. It was named in 1886 by Asa Gray, the most respected American botanist of the 19th century. The specific epithet, "lycioides", from the Greek, is due to the plant's resemblance to Lycium, a genus also known as "boxthorn" in the nightshade family.
Salvia melissodora is a woody perennial shrub native to elevations from 4,000-8,000 feet in the Sierra Madre Oriental mountain range in Mexico found by Diana Arias, from Chihuahua in the north to Oaxaca in the south. The plant is also called tarahumara, after the Tarahumara who have used the leaves and seeds for medicinal purposes for several hundred years.
Salvia oppositiflora is a perennial native to Peru, growing at high elevations—7,000 to 12,000 feet. It was collected in 1798 by Hipólito Ruiz López and José Antonio Pavón Jiménez and later described in Flora of Peru.
Salvia recurva is a woody-based perennial native to the cloud forests of Central America, limited to the northern slopes of Oaxaca, Chiapas, and Guatemala at elevations around 10,000 feet (3,000 m). It grows where there is year-round warmth and abundant moisture in the air and on the forest floor. Salvia recurva was described by George Bentham in 1848, with the specific epithet referring to the distinct curve in the inflorescence when it first appears.
Salvia rypara is a herbaceous perennial native to Argentina and Bolivia—due to its being very adaptable it is reported to be naturalized in Mexico and possibly Central America. It prefers stream bank habitats, as the specific epithet rypara implies. It also grows in weedy thickets, thriving at elevations under 3,000 feet. Described by John Isaac Briquet in 1896, it is not very well known in horticulture, with only a few gardeners growing it since the 1990s. It is becoming more well known in the United States, France, England, and Italy because it is easy to grow and makes a very attractive garden plant.
Salvia semiatrata is a perennial native to the Sierra Madre del Sur in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, growing at elevations of 6,500 ft (2,000 m) or higher. It prefers the edges of pine forests, and is also found on limestone cliffs and banks and in cactus scrub habitats that are dry and exposed.
Salvia serpyllifolia is a woody perennial endemic to a small area in the Mexican state of San Luis Potosi. It was described by Merritt Lyndon Fernald in 1900, who gave it the epithet serpyllifolia because of its small, shiny leaves—similar to the leaves of Thymus serpyllum. Salvia serpyllifolia was introduced into horticulture in 1990 from seed collected at 7,000 feet elevation. At that time it was thought to be a variety of Salvia microphylla.
Salvia shannoni is a tender perennial native to the Mexican state of Chiapas, and to Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, growing in or near pine forests at approximately 3,000-5,000 feet elevation. Its native habitat receives regular moisture in the form of fog, rain, and streams, with mild temperatures that stay above freezing. The plant was named by botanist John Donnell Smith in 1893 for William Cummings Shannon, who collected it in the wild. The two were apparently serving in the United States military at the same time. Even though it has been grown in Central America for many years, it is relatively new to horticulture in North America. In El Salvador it has been used for treating malaria, and is known as monte amargo, or "bitterwood.
Salvia urica is a herbaceous perennial native to the mountains of Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, and Chiapas, Mexico. It is reportedly most common in Guatemala, where it grows in a wide variety of habitats from 1,000 to 8,000 feet elevation, in a mild and moist climate. The specific epithet, urica, means "caterpillar" or "cankerworm", possibly describing the tight whorls of flowers, calyces, and bracts before they open.
Salvia villosa is a herbaceous perennial that is native to the Mexican states of San Luis Potosi and Coahuila, growing at approximately 4,000 feet (1,200 m) elevation in dry areas that have little or no frost.
