''Salvia'' () is the largest

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of plants in the sage 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 ...

, with nearly 1000 species of

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 ...

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 ...

perennials 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 widel ...

, and annuals. Within the Lamiaceae, ''Salvia'' is part of the tribe

Mentheae Mentheae is the largest tribe of plants in the family Lamiaceae. It includes herbs such as sage, hyssop, mint, bee balm and thyme. Genera Subtribe Lycopinae * ''Lycopus'' (21 living species) Subtribe Menthinae * '' Acanthomintha'' * '' Blephil ...

within the subfamily

Nepetoideae Nepetoideae is a subfamily of plants in the family Lamiaceae. , the Angiosperm Phylogeny Website (APweb) accepted the following genera: The format of the authorities is not the IPNI standard. *'' Acanthomintha'' (A. Gray) Bentham & J. D. Hooker ...

. One of several genera commonly referred to as sage, it includes two widely used herbs, ''Salvia officinalis'' ( common sage, or just "sage") and ''Salvia rosmarinus'' (

rosemary ''Salvia rosmarinus'' (), commonly known as rosemary, is a shrub with fragrant, evergreen, needle-like leaves and white, pink, purple, or blue flowers, native plant, native to the Mediterranean Region, Mediterranean region. Until 2017, it was kn ...

, formerly ''Rosmarinus officinalis''). The genus is distributed throughout the

Old World The "Old World" is a term for Afro-Eurasia that originated in Europe , after Europeans became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia, which were previously thought of by the ...

and the Americas (over 900 total species), with three distinct regions of diversity: Central America and South America (approximately 600 species); Central Asia and the Mediterranean (250 species); Eastern Asia (90 species).

Etymology

The name ''Salvia'' derives from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

(sage), from (safe, secure, healthy), an adjective related to (health, well-being, prosperity or salvation), and (to feel healthy, to heal).

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic '' ...

was the first author known to describe a plant called "''Salvia''" by the Romans, likely describing the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

for the genus ''Salvia'', ''

Salvia officinalis ''Salvia officinalis'', the common sage or just sage, 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, thoug ...

''. The common modern English name ''sage'' derives from

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English p ...

, which was borrowed from

Old French Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intelligib ...

, from Latin (the source of the botanical name). When used without modifiers, the name 'sage' generally refers to ''

'' ("common sage" or "culinary sage"), although it is used with modifiers to refer to any member of the genus. The

ornamental Ornamental may refer to: *Ornamental grass, a type of grass grown as a decoration *Ornamental iron, mild steel that has been formed into decorative shapes, similar to wrought iron work *Ornamental plant, a plant that is grown for its ornamental qua ...

species are commonly referred to by their genus name ''Salvia''.

Description

''Salvia'' species include annual, biennial, or perennial herbaceous plants, along with woody

subshrub A subshrub (Latin ''suffrutex'') or dwarf shrub is a short shrub, and is a woody plant. Prostrate shrub is a related term. "Subshrub" is often used interchangeably with "bush".Jackson, Benjamin, Daydon; A Glossary of Botanic Terms with their Der ...

s. The stems are typically angled like other members in Lamiaceae. The leaves are typically entire, but sometimes toothed or

pinnate Pinnation (also called pennation) is the arrangement of feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis. Pinnation occurs in biological morphology, in crystals, such as some forms of ice or metal crystals, and in ...

ly divided. The flowering stems bear small

bracts In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

, dissimilar to the basal leaves—in some species the bracts are ornamental and showy. The flowers are produced in

raceme A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the s ...

s or

panicle A panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a panicle are of ...

s, and generally produce a showy display with flower colors ranging from blue to red, with white and yellow less common. The calyx is normally tubular or bell shaped, without bearded throats, and divided into two parts or lips, the upper lip entire or three-toothed, the lower two-cleft. The corollas are often claw shaped and are two-lipped. The upper lip is usually entire or three-toothed. The lower lip typically has two lobes. The

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s are reduced to two short structures with anthers two-celled, the upper cell fertile, and the lower imperfect. The flower styles are two-cleft. The fruits are smooth ovoid or oblong nutlets and in many species they have a mucilaginous coating. Many members of ''Salvia'' have

trichome Trichomes (); ) are fine outgrowths or appendages on plants, algae, lichens, and certain protists. They are of diverse structure and function. Examples are hairs, glandular hairs, scales, and papillae. A covering of any kind of hair on a pla ...

s (hairs) growing on the leaves, stems and flowers, which help to reduce water loss in some species. Sometimes the hairs are glandular and secrete volatile oils that typically give a distinct aroma to the plant. When the hairs are rubbed or brushed, some of the oil-bearing cells are ruptured, releasing the oil. This often results in the plant being unattractive to

grazing In agriculture, grazing is a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to roam around and consume wild vegetations in order to convert the otherwise indigestible (by human gut) cellulose within grass and other ...

animals and some

insects Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of j ...

Staminal lever mechanism

The defining characteristic of the genus ''Salvia'' is the unusual pollination mechanism. It is central to any investigation into the

systematics Biological systematics is the study of the diversification of living forms, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time. Relationships are visualized as evolutionary trees (synonyms: cladograms, phylogenetic tre ...

, species distribution, or pollination biology of ''Salvia''. It consists of two stamens (instead of the typical four found in other members of the tribe Mentheae) and the two

thecae In biology, a theca (plural thecae) is a sheath or a covering. Botany In botany, the theca is related to plant's flower anatomy. The theca of an angiosperm consists of a pair of microsporangia that are adjacent to each other and share a comm ...

on each stamen are separated by an elongate connective which enables the formation of the lever mechanism. Sprengel (1732) was the first to illustrate and describe the nototribic (dorsal) pollination mechanism in Salvia.Sprengel, C. K. 1793. Das entdeckte Geheimnis der Natur im Bau und in der Befruchtung der Pflanzen. Friedrich Vieweg dem aeltern, Berlin, Germany. When a

pollinator A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma of a flower. This helps to bring about fertilization of the ovules in the flower by the male gametes from the pollen grains. Insects are the maj ...

probes a male stage flower for

nectar Nectar is a sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries or nectarines, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal mutualists ...

, (pushing the posterior

anther The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filam ...

theca In biology, a theca (plural thecae) is a sheath or a covering. Botany In botany, the theca is related to plant's flower anatomy. The theca of an angiosperm consists of a pair of microsporangia that are adjacent to each other and share a commo ...

) the lever causes the stamens to move and the

pollen Pollen is a powdery substance produced by seed plants. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm cells). Pollen grains have a hard coat made of sporopollenin that protects the gametophyt ...

to be deposited on the pollinator. When the pollinator withdraws from the flower, the lever returns the stamens to their original position. In older, female stage flowers, the stigma is bent down in a general location that corresponds to where the pollen was deposited on the pollinator's body. The lever of most ''Salvia'' species is not specialized for a single pollinator, but is generic and selected to be easily released by many bird and bee pollinators of varying shapes and sizes. The lever arm can be specialized to be different lengths so that the pollen is deposited on different parts of the pollinator's body.Classen-Bockhoff R, Tweraser E, Wester P. 2003. The staminal lever mechanism in Salvia L. (Lamiaceae) – a review. Plant Biology 5: 33–41. For example, if a bee went to one flower and pollen was deposited on the far back of her body, but then it flew to another flower where the stigma was more forward (anterior), pollination could not take place. This can result in reproductive isolation from the parental population and new speciation can occur. It is believed that the lever mechanism is a key factor in the speciation, adaptive radiation, and diversity of this large genus.

Taxonomy

History

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 ...

was first to give a full

monograph A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject. In library cataloging, ''monograph ...

ic account of the genus in 1832–1836, and based his classifications on staminal morphology. Bentham's work on classifying the family

Labiatae 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 ...

(''Labiatarum Genera et Species'' (1836)) is still the only comprehensive and global organization of the family. While he was clear about the integrity of the overall family, he was less confident about his organization of ''Salvia'', the largest genus in Labiatae (also called Lamiaceae). Based on his own philosophy of classification, he wrote that he "ought to have formed five or six genera" out of ''Salvia''. In the end, he felt that the advantage in placing a relatively uniform grouping in one genus was "more than counterbalanced by the necessity of changing more than two hundred names." At that time there were only 291 known ''Salvia'' species.

Subdivision

Bentham eventually organized ''Salvia'' into twelve sections (originally fourteen), based on differences in corolla, calyx, and stamens. These were placed into four subgenera that were generally divided into

and

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...

species: *Subgenus ''Salvia'': Old World (Sections: Hymenosphace, Eusphace, Drymosphace) *Subgenus ''Sclarea'': Old World (Sections: Horminum, Aethiposis, Plethiosphace) *Subgenus ''Calosphace'': New World (Section: Calosphace) *Subgenus ''Leonia'': Old and New World (Sections: Echinosphace, Pycnosphace, Heterosphace, Notiosphace, Hemisphace) His system is still the most widely studied classification of ''Salvia'', even though more than 500 new species have been discovered since his work. Other botanists have since offered modified versions of Bentham's classification system, while botanists in the last hundred years generally do not endorse Bentham's system. It was long assumed that ''Salvias unusual pollination and stamen structure had evolved only once, and that therefore ''Salvia'' was

monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...

, meaning that all members of the genus evolved from one ancestor. However, the immense diversity in staminal structure, vegetative habit, and floral

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines *Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts *Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...

of the species within ''Salvia'' has opened the debate about its infrageneric classifications. Patch of Dominican sage

Phylogenetic analyses

Through DNA sequencing, ''Salvia'' was shown to not be monophyletic but to consist of three separate

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

s (''Salvia'' clades I–III) each with different

sister group In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and t ...

s. They also found that the staminal lever mechanism evolved at least two separate times, through

convergent evolution Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last com ...

. Walker and Sytsma (2007) clarified this parallel evolution in a later paper combining molecular and morphological data to prove three independent lineages of the ''Salvia'' lever mechanism, each corresponding to a clade within the genus. It is surprising to see how similar the staminal lever mechanism structures are between the three lineages, so ''Salvia'' proves to be an interesting but excellent example of convergent evolution. Walker and Sytsma (2007) also addressed the question of whether ''Salvia'' is truly

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage of organisms or other evolving elements that is of mixed evolutionary origin. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as homoplasies, which are explained as a result of converg ...

or just

paraphyletic In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa ...

within the tribe Mentheae. To make ''Salvia'' monophyletic would require the inclusion of 15 species from ''Rosmarinus'', ''Perovskia'', ''Dorystaechas'', ''Meriandra'', and ''Zhumeria''

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

. The information attained by Walker and Sytsma (2007) supporting the three independent origins of the staminal lever indicate that ''Salvia'' is not the case where 15 species (currently not members of the genus) are actually members of ''Salvia'' but underwent character reversals—in other words, ''Salvia'' is paraphyletic as previously circumscribed. In 2017 Drew et al. recircumscribed ''Salvia'', proposing that the five small embedded genera (''Dorystaechas'', ''Meriandra'', ''Perovskia'', ''Rosmarinus'', and ''Zhumeria'') be subsumed into a broadly defined ''Salvia''. This approach would require only 15 name changes whereas maintaining the five small genera and renaming various ''Salvia'' taxa would require over 700 name changes. The circumscription of individual species within ''Salvia'' has undergone constant revision. Many species are similar to each other, and many species have varieties that have been given different specific names. There have been as many as 2,000 named species and subspecies. Over time, the number has been reduced to less than a thousand. A modern and comprehensive study of ''Salvia'' species was done by Gabriel Alziar, in his ''Catalogue Synonymique des ''Salvia'' du Monde'' (1989) (''World Catalog of ''Salvia'' Synonyms''). He found that the number of distinct species and subspecies could be reduced to less than 700.

Selected species and their uses

Many species are used as

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

s, as ornamental plants (usually for flower interest), and sometimes for their ornamental and aromatic foliage. Some species, such as ''

Salvia columbariae ''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, ...

'' and ''

Salvia hispanica ''Salvia hispanica'', commonly known as chia (), is a species of flowering plant in the mint family, Lamiaceae, native to central and southern Mexico and Guatemala. It is considered a pseudocereal, cultivated for its edible, hydrophilic chia s ...

'', are also grown for their seeds. The Plant List has 986 accepted species names. A selection of some well-known species is below. *''

Salvia apiana ''Salvia apiana'', the white sage, bee sage, or sacred sage is an evergreen perennial shrub that is native to the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, found mainly in the coastal sage scrub habitat of Southern California and Baja C ...

'': white sage; sacred to a number of Native American peoples, and used by some tribes in their ceremonies *'' Salvia azurea'': blue sage *''

Salvia buchananii ''Salvia buchananii'', or Buchanan's sage, is a species of flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae. It is a herbaceous perennial or subshrub that was only found in the wild in the northeastern extreme of the state of Querétaro, Mexico, aft ...

'': Buchanan sage; woody-based

stolon In biology, stolons (from Latin '' stolō'', genitive ''stolōnis'' – "branch"), also known as runners, are horizontal connections between organisms. They may be part of the organism, or of its skeleton; typically, animal stolons are external s ...

iferous perennial, deep pink flowers *'' Salvia cacaliifolia'': blue vine sage or Guatemalan sage; pure gentian-blue flowers *'' Salvia candelabrum'': candelabrum sage; woody-based perennial, violet flowers *''

'': wild chia; annual plant with seeds that are sometimes used like those of ''

'' *''

Salvia divinorum ''Salvia divinorum'' (Latin: "sage of the diviners"; also called ska maría pastora, seer's sage, yerba de la pastora, magic mint or simply salvia) is a plant species with transient psychoactive properties when its leaves are consumed by che ...

'': diviner's sage; sometimes cultivated for

hallucinogenic Hallucinogens are a large, diverse class of psychoactive drugs that can produce altered states of consciousness characterized by major alterations in thought, mood, and perception as well as other changes. Most hallucinogens can be categorize ...

effects; the legality of its use is under review in some US states *''

Salvia elegans ''Salvia elegans'', a species with several varieties including pineapple sage and tangerine sage, is a perennial shrub native to Mexico. It inhabits Madrean and Mesoamerican pine-oak forests between . Description ''Salvia elegans'' Pineapple Sa ...

'': pineapple sage; widely grown as an ornamental shrub or sub-shrub, with pineapple scented leaves *''

Salvia fruticosa ''Salvia fruticosa'', or Greek sage, is a perennial herb or sub-shrub native to the eastern Mediterranean, including Southern Italy, the Canary Islands and North Africa. It is especially abundant in Israel and Lebanon. Description Greek sage ...

'': Greek sage; commonly grown and harvested as an alternative to common sage *'' Salvia fulgens'': Cardinal sage, Mexican scarlet sage; small evergreen sub-shrub, red flowers *'' Salvia guaranitica'': hummingbird sage, anise-scented sage; tall perennial, deep blue flowers *''

'': chia; produces edible seeds high in protein and in the

omega-3 fatty acid Omega−3 fatty acids, also called Omega-3 oils, ω−3 fatty acids or ''n''−3 fatty acids, are polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) characterized by the presence of a double bond, three atoms away from the terminal methyl group in their chem ...

α-linolenic acid ''alpha''-Linolenic acid (ALA), also known as α-Linolenic acid (from Greek ''alpha'' meaning "first" and ''linon'' meaning flax), is an ''n''−3, or omega-3, essential fatty acid. ALA is found in many seeds and oils, including flaxseed, waln ...

(ALA). *'' Salvia involucrata'': roseleaf sage; woody-based perennial *'' Salvia jurisicii'': Ovche Pole sage; a rare, compact "feathery" perennial endemic to North Macedonia, violet flowers *''

Salvia leucantha ''Salvia leucantha'', the Mexican bush sage, is a herbaceous perennial plant that is native to subtropical and tropical conifer forests in central and eastern Mexico. The flowers are usually white, emerging from coloured bracts. It is not frost ...

'': Mexican bush sage, woolly sage; ornamental evergreen subshrub, white/pink flowers *'' Salvia microphylla'': baby sage: small ornamental shrub from Mexico, widely cultivated with many cultivars *''

Salvia miltiorrhiza ''Salvia miltiorrhiza'' (), also known as red sage, Chinese sage, tan shen, or danshen, is a perennial plant in the genus ''Salvia'', highly valued for its roots in traditional Chinese medicine. Native to China and Japan, it grows at elevation, ...

'': red sage,

Danshen ''Salvia miltiorrhiza'' (), also known as red sage, Chinese sage, tan shen, or danshen, is a perennial plant in the genus ''Salvia'', highly valued for its roots in traditional Chinese medicine. Native to China and Japan, it grows at elevation, ...

; Chinese medicinal herb *'' Salvia nemorosa'': woodland sage, Balkan clary; perennial with many ornamental varieties and cultivars *''

'': sage, common sage; used widely in cooking, as an ornamental, and in

herbal medicine Herbal medicine (also herbalism) is the study of pharmacognosy and the use of medicinal plants, which are a basis of traditional medicine. With worldwide research into pharmacology, some herbal medicines have been translated into modern remed ...

*'' Salvia patens'': gentian sage; herbaceous perennial, blue flowers *''

Salvia pratensis ''Salvia pratensis'', the meadow clary or meadow sage, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae, native to Europe, western Asia and northern Africa. The Latin specific epithet ''pratensis'' means "of meadows", referring to its ...

'': clary: herbaceous perennial, violet flowers *''

Salvia rosmarinus ''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 ''Rosmari ...

'': rosemary; herbaceous perennial, blue flowers *''

Salvia sclarea ''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 leng ...

'': clary; grown as an ornamental and to some extent for perfume oils *''

Salvia spathacea ''Salvia spathacea'', the California hummingbird sage, hummingbird sage, or pitcher sage, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae, native to southern and central California growing from sea level to . This fruity scented sage bloo ...

'': California hummingbird sage, pitcher sage; ornamental, fruit-scented with rose pink flowers *''

Salvia splendens ''Salvia splendens'', the scarlet sage, is a tender herbaceous perennial plant native to Brazil, growing at elevation where it is warm year-round and with high humidity. The wild form, rarely seen in cultivation, reaches tall. Smaller cultivar ...

'': scarlet sage; popular tender ornamental bedding or pot plant. *'' Salvia uliginosa'': bog sage; herbaceous perennial, blue flowers ''Salvia'' species are used as food plants by the

larvae A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

of some

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) is an order (biology), order of insects that includes butterfly, butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 Family (biology), families and 46 Taxonomic r ...

(

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

and

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

) species including the bucculatricid leaf-miner ''Bucculatrix taeniola'' which feeds exclusively on the genus and the '' Coleophora'' case-bearers ''C. aegyptiacae'', ''C. salviella'' (both feed exclusively on '' Salvia. aegyptiaca''), ''C. ornatipennella'' and ''C. virgatella'' (both recorded on '' Salvia. pratensis'').

Hybrids

Many interspecific hybrids occur naturally, with a relatively high degree of crossability, but some such as ''

'' × ''

Salvia lavandulifolia ''Salvia lavandulifolia'' (Spanish sage) is a small woody herbaceous perennial native to Spain and southern France, growing in rocky soil in Maquis shrubland, often found growing with rosemary, '' Lavandula lanata'', and ''Genista cinerea''. ' ...

'' and ''

'' × ''

Salvia tomentosa ''Salvia'' () is the largest genus of plants in the sage 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 ...

'' have been intentional. A natural hybrid, ''

Salvia longispicata ''Salvia longispicata'' is a perennial shrub native to southwestern Mexico, growing between elevation. The specific epithet "longispicata" gives the impression that the plant has "long spikes", but instead refers to the many projecting clusters ...

'' × ''

Salvia farinacea ''Salvia farinacea'', the mealycup sage, or mealy sage, is a herbaceous perennial native to Nuevo León, Mexico and parts of the United States including Texas and Oklahoma. Violet-blue spikes rest on a compact plant of typically narrow salvia-lik ...

'' has given rise to a series of popular ornamentals such as ''Salvia'' 'Indigo Spires' and ''Salvia'' 'Mystic Spires Blue'.

AGM cultivars

Numerous garden-worthy

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...

s and

varieties Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

have been produced, often with mixed or unknown parentage. The following 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 ...

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 ...

:- *''Salvia'' 'Amistad': bushy upright perennial, deep blue/purple flowers *''Salvia'' 'Dyson's Joy': small, bushy perennial, bicolor red/pink flowers *''Salvia'' 'Hot Lips': bushy evergreen, red/white flowers *''Salvia'' 'Jezebel': bushy evergreen perennial, red flowers *''Salvia'' 'Nachtvlinder': bushy evergreen perennial, purple flowers *''Salvia'' 'Ribambelle': bushy perennial, salmon-pink flowers *''Salvia'' 'Royal Bumble': evergreen shrub, red flowers *''Salvia'' × ''jamensis'' 'Javier': bushy perennial, purple flowers *''Salvia'' × ''jamensis'' 'Los Lirios': bushy shrub, pink flowers *''Salvia'' × ''jamensis'' 'Peter Vidgeon': bushy perennial, pale pink flowers *''Salvia'' × ''jamensis'' 'Raspberry Royale': evergreen subshrub, raspberry pink flowers *''Salvia'' × ''superba'' 'Rubin': clump-forming perennial, pale pink flowers *''Salvia'' × ''sylvestris'' 'Blauhügel': herbaceous perennial, violet-blue flowers *''Salvia'' × ''sylvestris'' 'Mainacht': compact perennial, deep violet flowers *''Salvia'' × ''sylvestris'' 'Tänzerin': perennial, purple flowers

References

Bibliography

* ''Sage: The Genus Salvia'' by Spiridon E. Kintzios, CRC Press, 2000. . * ''The Gardener's Guide to Growing Salvias'' by John Sutton, Timber Press, 1999. . * * {{Authority control Garden plants Herbs Lamiaceae genera Medicinal plants Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Subshrubs