''Salvia'' () is the largest

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of plants in the sage family

Lamiaceae The Lamiaceae ( ) or Labiatae are a family (biology), 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 (herb), ba ...

, with just under 1,000 species of

shrub A shrub or 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 by their multiple ...

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 ...

perennials In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

, 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. Hooke ...

. One of several genera commonly referred to as sage, it includes two widely used herbs, ''Salvia officinalis'' (

common sage ''Salvia officinalis'', the common sage or 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, though it ...

, or just "sage") and ''

Salvia rosmarinus ''Salvia rosmarinus'' (), commonly known as rosemary, is a shrub with fragrant, evergreen, needle-like leaves and white, pink, purple, or blue flowers. It is a member of the sage family, Lamiaceae. The species is native to the Mediterranean re ...

'' (

rosemary ''Salvia rosmarinus'' (), commonly known as rosemary, is a shrub with fragrant, evergreen, needle-like leaves and white, pink, purple, or blue flowers. It is a member of the sage family, Lamiaceae. The species is native to the Mediterranean r ...

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

Old World The "Old World" () is a term for Afro-Eurasia coined by Europeans after 1493, when they became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia in the Eastern Hemisphere, previously ...

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 languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

(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 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...

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

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, 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 spe ...

for the genus ''Salvia'', ''

Salvia officinalis ''Salvia officinalis'', the common sage or 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, though it ...

''. 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 pe ...

, which was borrowed from

Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th

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 Biennial means (an event) lasting for two years or occurring every two years. The related term biennium is used in reference to a period of two years. In particular, it can refer to: * Biennial plant, a plant which blooms in its second year and t ...

, or perennial herbaceous plants, along with woody Woody plant">woody subshrubs. The Plant stem">stems are typically angled like other members in Lamiaceae. The leaves are typically entire, but sometimes toothed or pinnate">subshrub">Woody plant">woody subshrubs. The Plant stem">stems are typically angled like other members in Lamiaceae. The leaves are typically entire, but sometimes toothed or pinnately divided. The flowering stems bear small bracts, dissimilar to the basal leaves—in some species the bracts are ornamental and showy. The flowers are produced in racemes or panicles, 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 (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

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 plant ...

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 free range (roam around) and consume wild vegetations in order to feed conversion ratio, convert the otherwise indigestible (by human diges ...

animals and some

insects Insects (from Latin ') are 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 jointed ...

Staminal lever mechanism

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

systematics 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: phylogenetic trees, phylogenies). Phy ...

, 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 (: 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 common are ...

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 carpel, 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 ...

probes a male stage flower for

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

, (pushing the posterior

anther The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

theca In biology, a theca (: 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 common ar ...

) the lever causes the stamens to move and the

pollen Pollen is a powdery substance produced by most types of flowers of seed plants for the purpose of sexual reproduction. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced Gametophyte#Heterospory, microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm ...

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 studie ...

was first to give a full

monograph A monograph is generally a long-form work on one (usually scholarly) subject, or one aspect of a subject, typically created by a single author or artist (or, sometimes, by two or more authors). Traditionally it is in written form and published a ...

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, sav ...

(''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 used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...

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 biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent co ...

, 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 In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

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 ...

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 comm ...

. 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 that includes organisms with mixed evolutionary origin but does not include their most recent common ancestor. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as Homoplasy, homoplasies ...

or just

paraphyletic Paraphyly is a taxonomic term describing a grouping that consists of the grouping's last common ancestor and some but not all of its descendant lineages. The grouping is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In co ...

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

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

. 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 Circumscription may refer to: * Circumscribed circle * Circumscription (logic) *Circumscription (taxonomy) * Circumscription theory, a theory about the origins of the political state in the history of human evolution proposed by the American anthr ...

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 Herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal purposes, or for fragrances. Culinary use typically distingu ...

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 seed, chia). It grows in California, Nevada, Utah, ...

'' and ''

Salvia hispanica ''Salvia hispanica'', one of several related species commonly known as chia (), is a species of flowering plant in the mint family, Lamiaceae. It is native to central and southern Mexico and Guatemala. It is considered a pseudocereal, cultivat ...

'', 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 Californian 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 Californi ...

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

Salvia azurea ''Salvia azurea'', the blue sage or azure sage, is a herbaceous perennial in the genus ''Salvia'' that is native to Central and Eastern North America.Kathleen N. Brenzel, Editor, ''Sunset Western Garden Book'' (Menlo Park, CA: Sunset Publishing C ...

'': blue sage *'' Salvia buchananii'': Buchanan sage; woody-based

stolon In biology, a stolon ( from Latin ''wikt:stolo, stolō'', genitive ''stolōnis'' – "branch"), also known as a runner, is a horizontal connection between parts of an organism. It may be part of the organism, or of its skeleton. Typically, animal ...

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 dianthera'' Roth: Bengal sage *''

Salvia divinorum ''Salvia divinorum'' (; also called ska maría pastora, seer's sage, yerba de la pastora, magic mint or simply salvia) is a species of plant in the sage genus ''Salvia'', known for its transient psychoactive properties when its leaves, or e ...

'': diviner's sage; sometimes cultivated for

hallucinogenic Hallucinogens, also known as psychedelics, entheogens, or historically as psychotomimetics, are a large and diverse class of psychoactive drugs that can produce altered states of consciousness characterized by major alterations in thought, moo ...

effects; the legality of its use is under review in some US states *'' Salvia elegans'': pineapple sage; widely grown as an ornamental shrub or sub-shrub, with pineapple scented leaves *'' Salvia farinacea'': Mealycup sage, mealy sage; perennial with flowers ranging from purple to blue, Used as an ornamental plant *''

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 Palestine, Israel and Lebanon. Description Gr ...

'': 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 ...

α-linolenic acid α-Linolenic acid, also known as ''alpha''-linolenic acid (ALA) (from Greek ''alpha'' denoting "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, ...

(ALA) *'' Salvia involucrata'': roseleaf sage; woody-based perennial *''

Salvia jurisicii ''Salvia jurisicii'', commonly known as Jurisic sage and Yugoslavian cut leaf sage or locally as Ovche Pole sage, is a hardy herbaceous perennial Endemism, endemic to the steppe-like region in central North Macedonia. Together with other rare spe ...

'': Ovche Pole sage; a rare, compact "feathery" perennial endemic to North Macedonia, violet flowers *'' Salvia leucantha'': 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, redroot sage, Chinese sage, 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 elevat ...

'': red sage, Danshen; 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 called herbalism, phytomedicine or phytotherapy) is the study of pharmacognosy and the use of medicinal plants, which are a basis of traditional medicine. Scientific evidence for the effectiveness of many herbal treatments ...

*''

Salvia patens ''Salvia patens'', the gentian sage or spreading sage, is a species of flowering plant in the sage family Lamiaceae that is native to a wide area of central Mexico. This herbaceous perennial was introduced into horticulture in 1838 and popularize ...

'': 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 plant, native to Europe, western Asia and northern Africa. The Latin Binomial nomenclature, specific epithet ''pratensis'' ...

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

'': rosemary; woody shrub, blue flowers *''

Salvia sclarea ''Salvia sclarea'', the clary or clary sage (clary deriving from Middle English ''clarie'', from Anglo-Norman ''sclaree'', from Late or Medieval Latin '' sclarēia'' meaning ''clear''), is a biennial (short-lived) herbaceous perennial in the g ...

'': clary; grown as an ornamental and to some extent for perfume oils *'' Salvia spathacea'': California hummingbird sage, pitcher sage; ornamental, fruit-scented with rose pink flowers *'' Salvia splendens'': scarlet sage; popular tender ornamental

bedding Bedding, also called bedclothes or bed linen, is the materials laid above the mattress of a bed for hygiene, warmth, protection of the mattress, and decorative effect. Bedding is the removable and washable portion of a human sleeping environment ...

or pot plant. *'' Salvia uliginosa'': bog sage; herbaceous perennial, blue flowers

Ecology

Herbivory

''Salvia'' species are used as food plants by the

larvae A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect developmental biology, development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typical ...

of some

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) or lepidopterans is an order (biology), order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organ ...

(

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

and

moth Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not Butterfly, butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is Paraphyly, paraphyletic with respect to butterflies (s ...

) species including the bucculatricid leaf-miner ''Bucculatrix taeniola'' which feeds exclusively on the genus and the ''

Coleophora ''Coleophora'' is a very large genus of moths of the family Coleophoridae. It contains some 1,350 described species. The genus is represented on all continents, but the majority are found in the Nearctic and Palaearctic regions. Many authors have t ...

'' case-bearers ''C. aegyptiacae'', ''C. salviella'' (both feed exclusively on '' Salvia aegyptiaca''), ''C. ornatipennella'' and ''C. virgatella'' (both recorded on ''

'').

Hybrids

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

'' × '' Salvia tomentosa'', have been intentional. A natural hybrid, '' Salvia longispicata'' × '' Salvia farinacea'' has given rise to a series of popular ornamentals such as ''Salvia'' 'Indigo Spires' and ''Salvia'' 'Balsalmisp'.

AGM cultivars

Numerous garden-worthy

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

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 ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. It includes the full range of cultivated p ...

: *''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