''Salvia clevelandii'', the fragrant sage, blue sage, Jim sage and Cleveland sage, is a

perennial plant 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 ...

that is native to

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

and northern

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

, growing below elevation in

California coastal sage and chaparral The California coastal sage and chaparral ( es, Salvia y chaparral costero de California) is a Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub ecoregion located in southwestern California (United States) and northwestern Baja California (Mexico). It ...

habitat. The plant was named in 1874 by Asa Gray, honoring plant collector

Daniel Cleveland Daniel Cleveland (March 21, 1838 – January 3, 1929) was an American lawyer, politician, civic leader and botanist. Originating from a family of lawyers from Poughkeepsie, New York, he practiced law throughout his life. He served as the mayor o ...

Description

''Salvia clevelandii'' is an evergreen shrub that reaches in height and width. The fragrant, ashy green leaves are

obovate The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular ...

and

rugose Rugose means "wrinkled". It may refer to: * Rugosa, an extinct order of coral, whose rugose shape earned it the name * Rugose, adjectival form of rugae Species with "rugose" in their names * ''Idiosoma nigrum'', more commonly, a black rugose trap ...

, growing less than long. Flowers are on spikes, with numerous whorls of upright amethyst blooms opening in June–July.

Phytochemistry

The rose potpourri scented foliage of hybrids is composed of camphor and

1,8-cineole Eucalyptol is a monoterpenoid. A colorless liquid, it is a bicyclic ether. Eucalyptol has a fresh mint-like smell and a spicy, cooling taste. It is insoluble in water, but miscible with organic solvents. Eucalyptol makes up ~70% - 90% of eucal ...

. Named cultivars with a eucalyptus scent also contain around 20% 1,8-cineole.

Taxonomy

This species was described in 1874 as ''Audibertia clevelandii'' (the basionym) by Asa Gray, named in honor of

. Cleveland was an amateur botanist and civic leader from

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

, who had taken an interest in the local flora and fauna, sending his

collections Collection or Collections may refer to: * Cash collection, the function of an accounts receivable department * Collection (church), money donated by the congregation during a church service * Collection agency, agency to collect cash * Collection ...

to Gray over a 20-year correspondence. In the wild, this species may hybridize with ''

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 ...

'' and ''

Salvia mellifera ''Salvia mellifera'' (black sage, also known as seel by the Mahuna) is a small, highly aromatic, evergreen shrub of the genus ''Salvia'' (the sages) native to California, and Baja California, Mexico. It is common in the coastal sage scrub of Sou ...

''.Montalvo, A. M., E. C. Riordan, and J. L. Beyers. 2017. ''Plant Profile for Salvia mellifera'', Updated 2017. Native Plant Recommendations for Southern California Ecoregions. Riverside-Corona Resource Conservation District and

U.S. Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of comme ...

, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station, Riverside, CA. Online: https://www.rcrcd.org/plant-profiles

Distribution and habitat

This species is found throughout portions of

and northwestern

, in chaparral and coastal sage scrub. It is distributed along the coast of

San Diego County San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634, making it California's second-most populous county and the f ...

, the Peninsular Ranges of San Diego and

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

counties, and in northwestern Baja California, from the

border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

to the northern portion of the

Central Desert The deserts of Australia or the Australian deserts cover about , or 18% of the Australian mainland, but about 35% of the Australian continent receives so little rain, it is practically desert. Collectively known as the Great Australian desert, t ...

in the southern Sierra de San Pedro Martir.

Cultivation

''Salvia clevelandii'' is a popular Southwest USA landscape plant, cultivated since the 1940s. Plants prefer dry summers, good drainage, and tolerate full sun in cooler areas. As a landscape plant they have a relatively short life span of five to ten years. They are hardy to . Cultivars and hybrids include: *'Winnifred Gilman', a popular cultivar with intense violet-blue flowers. *'Betsy Clebsch', a shorter cultivar with wide variation in flower color. *'Allen Chickering', 'Aromas', 'Pozo Blue', 'Santa Cruz Dark', and 'Whirly Blue' are hybrids with similar appearance. ''Salvia clevelandii'' is one of the parents of the hybrid ''Salvia'' 'Celestial Blue'.

Notes

External links

* * *
USDA Plants Profile: ''Salvia clevelandii''

Jepson Manual Treatment — ''Salvia clevelandii''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7406766 clevelandii Flora of California Flora of Baja California Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of the Peninsular Ranges Plants described in 1874 Taxa named by Asa Gray Butterfly food plants Garden plants of North America Drought-tolerant plants Flora without expected TNC conservation status