''Salvia microphylla'', the baby sage, Graham's sage, or blackcurrant sage, is an
evergreen
In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...
shrub
A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...
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
In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
''microphylla'', from the Greek, means "small leaved". In Mexico it is called ''mirto de montes'', or "myrtle of the mountains".
Description
![Baby Sage (Salvia microphylla)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Baby_Sage_%28Salvia_microphylla%29.jpg)
''Salvia microphylla'' grows to tall and wide, blooming in its first year and growing to full size in its second year. The leaves are ovate shaped, of varying sizes, and smooth or lightly covered with hairs. When crushed, the leaves have a strong fragrance, which has been described as pleasant and mint-like, but also as similar to that of
blackcurrant
The blackcurrant (''Ribes nigrum''), also known as black currant or cassis, is a deciduous shrub in the family Grossulariaceae grown for its edible berries. It is native to temperate parts of central and northern Europe and northern Asia, whe ...
s, leading to the use of "blackcurrant sage” as an English name for this species. It sometimes spreads underground, producing dense patches.
Along with its cultivars and hybrids, ''S. microphylla'' blooms heavily in late spring and again in autumn, with sporadic flowering year-round in mild conditions. The flowers are arranged in whorls, with a wide range of color: magenta, red, pink, and rose.
Taxonomy
![Salvia microphylla2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/Salvia_microphylla2.jpg)
Botanist
Carl Epling
Carl Clawson Epling (15 April 1894 – 17 November 1968) was an American botanist and taxonomist. He is best known for being the major authority on the Lamiaceae (mint family) of the Americas from the 1920s to the 1960s. In his later years he als ...
considered ''Salvia microphylla'' to have three geographical races, though the wide variation still causes confusion today, and there are conceivably more than three races. Adding to the confusion, ''Salvia microphylla'' is often mistaken for ''
Salvia greggii'', with which it frequently hybridizes. Epling distinguishes between the two by the ''S. microphylla'' leaves, which have serrated edges, compared to the narrow, elliptic, and smooth-edged ''S. greggii'' leaves — and by a pair of papillae inside the ''S. microphylla'' corolla.
In the U.S. it is sometimes called "Graham's sage," as it was named ''Salvia grahamii'' by
George Bentham
George Bentham (22 September 1800 – 10 September 1884) was an English botanist, described by the weed botanist Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century". Born into a distinguished family, he initially studi ...
. It was also named ''Salvia neurepia'' by
Merritt Lyndon Fernald
Merritt Lyndon Fernald (October 5, 1873 – September 22, 1950) was an American botanist. He was a respected scholar of the taxonomy and phytogeography of the vascular plant flora of temperate eastern North America. During his career, Fernald pub ...
. Both these botanic names are considered
invalid
Invalid may refer to:
* Patient, a sick person
* one who is confined to home or bed because of illness, disability or injury (sometimes considered a politically incorrect term)
* .invalid, a top-level Internet domain not intended for real use
As t ...
as they are later than ''microphylla.''
There is also confusion between ''Salvia microphylla'' and ''
Salvia lemmonii'', which was named by
Asa Gray
Asa Gray (November 18, 1810 – January 30, 1888) is considered the most important American botanist of the 19th century. His ''Darwiniana'' was considered an important explanation of how religion and science were not necessarily mutually excl ...
. Later, Gray began calling it ''Salvia microphylla'' var. ''wislizeni'', considering it to be a variety of ''S. microphylla'', though most taxonomies still consider ''S. lemmonii'' to be a unique species.
''S. lemmonii'' has leaves that are long, which are furry and sharp-pointed, along with flowers that are often vermilion or magenta, with the
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 ...
shorter than that of ''S. microphylla''. var. ''neurepia''.
Cultivars and hybrids
Some cultivars are hybrids with ''Salvia greggii'' (known as ''Salvia'' × ''jamensis'') and other ''Salvia'' species; collectively they may be called "Mexican salvias".
Technically they are evergreen shrubs or sub-shrubs, though they are not reliably hardy and are also short-lived. However, they are easy to propagate from
cuttings. Those marked
AGM have gained the
Royal Horticultural Society
The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity.
The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nort ...
's
Award of Garden Merit
The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established annual award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions.
History
The Award of Garden Merit ...
.
* 'Alba': White flowers
* 'Blush Pink': Rich pink flowers
[Mark Griffiths. ''Index of Garden Plants, 2nd American Edition.'' (Portland, Oregon: Timber Press, 1995; ).]
* 'Cerro Potosi':
AGM Large vibrant magenta flowers
* 'Desert Blaze': Bright red flowers, variegated yellow and green leaves
* 'Forever Red': Shrublike, long-blooming, scarlet flowers
* 'Graham's Sage': Many red flowers blooming simultaneously
* 'Hoja Grande': Magenta-red flowers and dark green leaves
* 'Hot Lips':
AGM Flowers with a white base and bright red top
* 'James Compton': Oval, serrated leaves; large, dark crimson flowers
* 'Kew Red': Vigorous grower with vivid red flowers
* 'La Foux': Deep crimson flowers with dark calyces
* 'La Trinidad Pink': Bright pink flowers
* var. ''neurepia'' (Fern.) Epling: Flowers cherry red in autumn
* 'Newby Hall': 6 feet (2m),
bright scarlet flowers
* 'Oxford': Dark pink flowers
* 'Pat Vlasto' (''S.'' × ''jamensis''): Leaves unserrated; peach-orange blossoms
* 'Pink Blush': Free flowering, rose-magenta flowers
* 'Pleasant View': Pink flowers
* 'Red Velvet': Lustrous red flowers
* ‘Ribambelle’:
AGM a profusion of salmon pink flowers
* 'Rosita': Repeat bloomer with bright candy-pink flowers
* 'Royal Bumble': large deep crimson flowers on a bushy evergreen plant
* 'Ruth Stungo': Leaves variegated green and white
* 'San Carlos Festival: magenta-scarlet flowers, gray-green leaves
* 'Trebah': Upright, lilac white flowers
* 'Trelawney': Upright, rose-pink flowers
* 'Trelissick': Upright, creamy yellow flowers
* 'Trenance': Upright, lilac-pink flowers
* 'Trewithin': Upright, cerise flowers
* 'Wild Watermelon': large pink flowers with dark
calyces
Uses
''Salvia microphylla'' is grown in central Mexico as a medicinal plant, and used for making tea.
References
External links
*
Jepson manual
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2705479
microphylla
Flora of California
Flora of Arizona
Flora of New Mexico
Flora of Mexico
Medicinal plants
Flora without expected TNC conservation status