Salvia microphylla 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".

Description

Salvia microphylla grows to 1 to 1.3 m (3.3 to 4.3 ft) 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. When crushed, the leaves have a strong fragrance, which has been described as pleasant and mint-like, but also as similar to that of blackcurrants, leading to the use of "Blackcurrant Sage" as an English name for this species. It typically flowers in its first year, and reaches full size in the second year. It sometimes spreads underground, producing dense patches.

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.

Taxonomy

Botanist Carl Epling

Carl Epling

Carl Clawson Epling was an American botanist who is best known for being the major authority on the Lamiaceae of the Americas from the 1920s to the 1960s. In his later years he also developed an interest in genetics. After obtaining his Ph.D...

 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

Salvia greggii

Salvia greggii is a herbaceous perennial native to a long, narrow area from southwest Texas, through the Chihuahuan Desert and into the Mexican state of San Luis Potosi, typically growing in rocky soils at elevations from 5,000-9,000 feet. It was named and described in 1870 by botanist Asa Gray...

, 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.

In the U.S. it is sometimes called "Graham's sage", as it has been named Salvia grahamii by George Bentham

George Bentham

George Bentham CMG FRS was an English botanist, characterized by Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century".- Formative years :...

. It was also named Salvia neurepia by Merritt Lyndon Fernald

Merritt Lyndon Fernald

Merritt Lyndon Fernald was an American botanist. In his time he was regarded as the most respected scholar of the taxonomy and phytogeography of the vascular plant flora of temperate eastern North America. He published more than 850 scientific papers and wrote and edited the seventh and eighth...

. Both these botanic names are considered invalid as they are later than microphylla.

There is also confusion between Salvia microphylla and Salvia lemmonii

Salvia lemmonii

Salvia lemmonii is an aromatic species of sage that is native to the United States and Mexico. It grows to a height of between 30 and 90 cm and has long, ovate leaves which are between 2.5 and 5 cm in length....

, which was named by Asa Gray

Asa Gray

-References:*Asa Gray. Dictionary of American Biography. American Council of Learned Societies, 1928–1936.*Asa Gray. Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd ed. 17 Vols. Gale Research, 1998.*Asa Gray. Plant Sciences. 4 vols. Macmillan Reference USA, 2001....

. 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. It has leaves that are .6–1.2 inches (1.5–3 cm) that are furry and sharp-pointed, and flowers that are often vermilion or magenta, with the inflorescence shorter than that of S. microphylla. var. neurepia.

Cultivars and hybrids

• 'Alba': White flowers
• 'Blush Pink': Rich pink flowers
• 'Cerro Potosi': Large vibrant magenta flowers
• 'Desert Blaze': Bright red flowers, variegated yellow and green leaves
• 'Forever Red': Shrublike, long-blooming, scarlet flowers
• 'Graham's Sage': Many red flowers blooming simultaneously
• 'Hoja Grande': Magenta-red flowers and dark green leaves
• 'James Compton': Oval, serrated leaves; large, dark crimson flowers
• 'Kew's Red': Vigorous grower with vivid red flowers

• 'La Foux': Deep crimson flowers with dark calyces
• 'La Trinidad Pink': Bright pink flowers
• var. neurepia (Fern.) Epling: Flowers cherry red in autumn
• 'Newby Hall': 6 feet (2m), bright scarlet flowers
• 'Oxford': Dark pink flowers
• 'Pat Vlasto' (S. microphylla XS. greggii): Leaves unserrated; peach-orange blossoms
• 'Pink Blush': Free flowering, rose-magenta flowers
• 'Pleasant View': Pink flowers
• 'Red Velvet': Lustrous red flowers

• 'Rosita': Repeat bloomer with bright candy-pink flowers
• 'Ruth Stungo': Leaves variegated green and white
• 'San Carlos Festival: magenta-scarlet flowers, gray-green leaves
• 'Trebah': Upright, lilac white flowers
• 'Trelawney': Upright, rose-pink flowers
• 'Trelissick': Upright, creamy yellow flowers
• 'Trenance': Upright, lilac-pink flowers
• 'Trewithin': Upright, cerise flowers
• 'Wild Watermelon': large pink flowers with dark calyces

Uses

Salvia microphylla is cultivated in central Mexico as a medicinal plant, and is sometimes used for making tea. The tea is often said to have theraputecic effects.

External links

• USDA Plants Profile
• Jepson manual