Salvia merjamie is a herbaceous perennial plant that is native to the east African highlands

Eastern Highlands

The Eastern or 'East African Highlands is a mountain range in the east of Zimbabwe and one of 4 distinct physiographic divisions on the African continent.-Location and description:...

 from Ethiopia

Ethiopia

Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...

 to Tanzania

Tanzania

The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...

, and also across the Red Sea

Red Sea

The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...

 in Yemen

Yemen

The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....

. It grows between 6,000 and 13,000 feet elevation in grasslands, forest edges, rocky outcrops, basalt slopes, and fallow fields. The specific epithet merjamie is derived from meryamiye, the Arabian common name for the plant, which is shared with other local Salvia species such as Salvia lanigera

Salvia lanigera

Salvia lanigera is a small herbaceous perennial that is native from northern Egypt and Arabia, to the south of Turkey and Iran. It grows in low altitude deserts, in sandy loam and chalky sandstone soils. The specific epithet "lanigera" means "wool-bearing" or "fleecy", referring to the hairs that...

. The Maasai

Maasai language

The Maasai language is an Eastern Nilotic language spoken in Southern Kenya and Northern Tanzania by the Maasai people, numbering about 800,000...

 common name for S. merjamie is Naingungundeu, meaning that the plant smells of rats, though the variety that is common in horticulture is named 'Mint Sauce' and is described as having a strong minty aroma. S. merjamie shares a similar distribution with Salvia nilotica

Salvia nilotica

Salvia nilotica is a perennial shrub growing in the eastern African highlands from Ethiopia to Zimbabwe, between 900-3600 m elevation. It has many creeping rhizomes and stems about 60-90 cm tall. The small flowers, in whorls of 6-8, range from purple to rose to white....

, though they are not known to hybridize.

The plant was named by Finnish plant collector Peter Forsskål

Peter Forsskål

Peter Forsskål, sometimes spelled Pehr Forsskål, Peter Forskaol, Petrus Forskål or Pehr Forsskåhl, was a Swedish explorer, orientalist, naturalist and an apostle of Carl Linnaeus.-Early life:...

 (1732–1763), a student of Carl Linnaeus, while on an expedition to Arabia in 1762 with explorer Carsten Niebuhr

Carsten Niebuhr

Carsten Niebuhr or Karsten Niebuhr , a German mathematician, cartographer, and explorer in the service of Denmark, is renowned for his travels on the Arabian peninsula.-Biography:...

 and others. Forsskål died of malaria in 1763, less than a year after the trip began. His writings were later edited by Neibuhr, the only survivor of the trip, and published in 1775 as Descriptiones Animalium — Avium, amphiborum, insectorum, vermium quæ in itinere orientali observavit Petrus Forskål, which included the description and naming of Salvia merjamie.

Description

Salvia merjamie grows 2–3 feet tall, with mostly basal leaves that are covered with oil glands, and sometimes with light hair on both leaf surfaces. The dark green oblong leaves form a rosette, with light scalloping on the edge. The leaves grow up to 6 inches long and 2 inches wide, with a 1.5 inch petiole. The flowers, usually less than 1 inch long, grow in whorls, varying in color. The variety grown in horticulture is very pale blue, verging on cream, with a falcate upper lip. The small calyces are typically violet-purple. The inflorescences are short, with a main flowering stem that has alternating pairs of flower stems at right angles to each other, a botanical arrangement known as decussate

Phyllotaxis

In botany, phyllotaxis or phyllotaxy is the arrangement of leaves on a plant stem .- Pattern structure :...

. The mathematically precise flower structure gives the plant a striking appearance.

Cultivation

Salvia merjamie prefers a half to full day of sun, well draining soil, and regular moderate watering. It is hardy down to −4 °C for short periods, and is typically short-lived, flowering and producing seed for about three years in cultivation. The bloom period is short, approximately three weeks, with bees and hummingbirds typically drawn to the flowers. The variety commonly sold in horticulture is named 'Mint Sauce', which was first collected near the top of Mount Kilamanjaro in Tanzania and is described as having a strong minty aroma.

External links

IPNI listing - Salvia merjamie.