Salvia rosmarinus, commonly known as rosemary, is a shrub with fragrant, evergreen, needle-like leaves and white, pink, purple, or blue flowers, native to the Mediterranean region. Until 2017, it was known by the scientific name Rosmarinus officinalis, now a synonym.
Salvia officinalis is a perennial, evergreen subshrub, with woody stems, grayish leaves, and blue to purplish flowers. It is a member of the mint family Lamiaceae and native to the Mediterranean region, though it has been naturalized in many places throughout the world. It has a long history of medicinal and culinary use, and in modern times it has been used as an ornamental garden plant. The common name "sage" is also used for a number of related and unrelated species.
Salvia dorrii, the purple sage, Dorr's sage, fleshy sage, mint sage, or tobacco sage, is a perennial spreading shrub in the family Lamiaceae. It is native to mountain areas in the western United States and northwestern Arizona, found mainly in the Great Basin and southward to the Mojave Desert, growing in dry, well draining soils.
Salvia sprucei is a herbaceous perennial in the family Lamiaceae that is native to Ecuador, growing at 7,000 feet (2,100 m) elevation or higher in thick scrub on steep slopes. It was named in 1898 by botanist John Isaac Briquet for the British plant collector Richard Spruce. It is likely that Spruce discovered the plant on a collecting trip in Ecuador in 1857.
Salvia microphylla, the baby sage, Graham's sage, or blackcurrant sage, is an evergreen shrub found in the wild in southeastern Arizona and the mountains of eastern, western, and southern Mexico. It is a very complex species which easily hybridizes, resulting in numerous hybrids and cultivars brought into horticulture since the 1990s. The specific epithet microphylla, from the Greek, means "small leaved". In Mexico it is called mirto de montes, or "myrtle of the mountains".
Salvia candidissima is a herbaceous perennial native throughout western Greece, and parts of Turkey, Iraq, and Iran, generally between 2000 and 6500 feet elevation. Several small stems grow almost horizontally from the roots before bearing upright inflorescences. The plant reaches 3 ft in height and width in the wild. The light green leaves, 6 in long by 4 in wide, are covered with hairs on both sides and often have notches on the edges. The leaves become lighter in color as the weather gets hotter. The 8–12 inch inflorescences are branched, with 1 inch flowers in whorls that are creamy white and sometimes tipped with a yellow lip. Salvia candidissima is one of a group of seven salvias that are closely related, grow in the same habitat, and easily hybridize with each other, resulting in a great deal of variety in the species.
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 longispicata is a perennial shrub native to southwestern Mexico, growing between 1,000 and 6,500 feet elevation. The specific epithet "longispicata" gives the impression that the plant has "long spikes", but instead refers to the many projecting clusters of short flowering spikes that resemble small ears of corn.
Salvia melissodora is a woody perennial shrub native to elevations from 4,000 to 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 mexicana is a herbaceous shrubby perennial native to a wide area of central Mexico, growing at elevations from 2,600 to 8,500 feet. It grows in tropical areas in the south and arid subtropical habitats in the north, often at the edges of forests.
Salvia moorcroftiana is a herbaceous perennial native to the Himalayan mountains from Pakistan to western Nepal, and is especially common in the Kashmir Valley. It grows between 5,000 and 9,000 feet elevation on disturbed areas and open slopes. The leaves are used medicinally in Kashmir.
Salvia namaensis is an evergreen perennial shrub native to a limited area in Namibia and a wide area of South Africa. It is typically found growing on rocky slopes, shales, limestone hills, and sandy soils at 1,000 to 5,000 feet elevation. The specific epithet namaensis probably refers to the Nama tribe which is indigenous to Namaqualand, the region in Namibia where the plant grows.
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 polystachya is a herbaceous perennial native to central Mexico and south into Guatemala and Panama, typically growing at elevations from 5,000 to 10,000 feet in mild climates where there is some summer rain. It is rarely seen in horticulture.
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 taraxacifolia is a species of flowering plant in the Lamiaceae family. It is referred to by the common name Dandelion leaved sage and is a herbaceous perennial shrub that is endemic to southwest Morocco, growing in the Atlas Mountains at elevations ranging from 2,000 feet (610 m) to 8,000 feet (2,400 m). Very adaptable, it grows on limestone slopes, forest clearings, and rocky riversides. It has no close allies in the genus Salvia. The specific epithet, taraxacifolia, is likely Persian in origin and means 'leaves shaped like a dandelion'.
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.
Salvia wagneriana is a perennial found in Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, and the Mexican state of Chiapas, growing at 4,000 to 6,500 feet elevation in warm, moist areas. It is very popular among gardeners near its native habitat, and one of the few native plants taken from the wild by local gardeners. It is described sometimes as a herb and sometimes as a shrub by various botanists.
