''Salvia indica'' (pied sage or two-lip spotted sage) is a species of

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of t ...

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

plant belonging to the family

Lamiaceae 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 ...

. It is native to a wide region of

Western Asia Western Asia, West Asia, or Southwest Asia, is the westernmost subregion of the larger geographical region of Asia, as defined by some academics, UN bodies and other institutions. It is almost entirely a part of the Middle East, and includes Ana ...

that includes

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

and

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. It was first described by the taxonomist

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

in 1753. It is unknown why he gave it the specific epithet ''indica'', since the plant is not from India. While ''Salvia indica'' is classified as a herbaceous perennial, in cultivation individual plants often live no longer than two years.

Description

The native

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

of ''Salvia indica'' includes rocky limestone slopes between in elevation, where it flowers in April and May. The plant has an erect and stately

habit A habit (or wont as a humorous and formal term) is a routine of behavior that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously.

, forming a clump of rich grassy-green, ovate leaves with scalloped margins. The leaves are covered in long, soft, straight hairs.

Inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

s are composed of specialized flowering stems growing from the plant's center, some two to four feet high. Widely spaced whorls of four to six flowers open slowly from the inflorescence. Individual flowers are two-lipped, with the one inch upper lip a shiny bright lilac color. The stubby lower lip has a trough with purple and brown spots on a white background. The flowers stay in bloom for quite a long time, nearly one month. The plant is typically propagated by seed, with seedlings often appearing near the plant. In the garden, the plant prefers full sun, loamy soil, and good drainage. After flowering the plants need very little moisture. It can survive temperatures down to for brief periods.

Uses

''Salvia indica'' shows potential medicinal use that is also seen in other members of the genus ''

Salvia ''Salvia'' () is the largest genus of plants in the sage family Lamiaceae, with nearly 1000 species of shrubs, herbaceous plant, herbaceous perennial plant, perennials, and annual plant, annuals. Within the Lamiaceae, ''Salvia'' is part of the ...

''. There is evidence that the extracts of plant have some anti-fungal qualities.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q891019 indica Flora of Western Asia Flora of Iraq Flora of Iran Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus