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Salvia microphylla
Salvia microphylla var. 'Forever Red'
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Lamiales
Family:	Lamiaceae
Genus:	Salvia
Species:	S. microphylla
Binomial name
Salvia microphylla Kunth
Synonyms
Salvia grahamii Benth.

Salvia microphylla (Baby sage, Graham's sage) is a perennial shrub 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, "microphylla", from the Greek, means "small leaved". In Mexico, it is called "mirto de montes", or "myrtle of the mountains".^[1]

Description

S. Microphylla var. "Hot Lips"

Salvia microphylla grows to 1-1.3m 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. The leaves have a pleasant mint-like fragrance when crushed. It typically flowers in its first year, and reaches full size in the second year. It sometimes spreads underground, producing dense patches.^[1]

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.^[1]

Taxonomy

S. Microphylla

Botanist Carl Epling 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.^[1]

In the U.S. it is sometimes called "Graham's sage", as it has been named Salvia grahamii by George Bentham. It was also named Salvia neurepia by Merritt Lyndon Fernald. Both these botanic names are considered invalid as they are later than microphylla.

There is also confusion between Salvia microphylla and Salvia lemmonii, which was named by Asa Gray. Later, Gray began calling it Salvia microphylla var. wislizenii, considering it to be a variety of S. microphylla, though most taxonomies still consider S. lemmonii to be a unique species.^[1]

Cultivars and hybrids

• 'Cerro Potosi'—large vibrant magenta flowers
• 'Hoja Grande'—magenta-red flowers and dark green leaves
• 'La Trinidad Pink'—bright pink flowers
• 'Rosita'—repeat bloomer with bright candy-pink flowers
• 'San Carlos Festival—magenta-scarlet flowers and gray-green leaves
• 'Desert Blaze'—bright red flowers and variegated yellow and green leaves
• 'Forever Red'—shrublike, long-blooming, scarlet flowers
• 'Graham's Sage'—many red flowers blooming simultaneously
• 'Kew's Red'—vigorous grower with vivid red flowers
• 'La Foux'—deep crimson flowers with dark calyces
• 'Newby Hall'—robust plant, bright scarlet flowers
• 'Pink Blush'—free flowering, rose-magenta flowers
• 'Red Velvet'—lustrous red flowers
• 'Wild Watermelon'—large pink flowers with dark calyces^[1]
• 'Kirsch Pink'-pink flowers, developed by Toyota

Uses

Salvia microphylla is cultivated in central Mexico as a medicinal plant, and is sometimes used for making tea.^[2]

Notes

External links

• USDA Plants Profile
• Jepson manual

From Wikispecies

Taxonavigation

Classification System: APG II (down to family level)

Main Page
Cladus: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiospermae
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: core eudicots
Cladus: Asterids
Cladus: Euasterids I
Ordo: Lamiales
Familia: Lamiaceae
Subfamilia: Nepetoideae
Tribus: Mentheae
Genus: Salvia
Species: Salvia microphylla

Name

Salvia microphylla Kunth

Reference

F. W. H. A. von Humboldt et al., Nov. gen. sp. 2:238[folio]; 2:295[quarto]. 1818