Shrubby sage
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Shrubby sage ( Salvia leucantha ) |
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The Shrubby sage ( Salvia leucantha ), even velvet sage and Mexican bush sage called, is a plant type from the genus sage ( Salvia ) within the family of Labiatae (Lamiaceae). The perennial , evergreen subshrub is native to Central America and is widespread as an ornamental plant in many tropical and subtropical countries .
description
The shrubby sage grows as a perennial , bushy, evergreen subshrub with numerous, arching overhanging, up to 130 cm high, loosely branched, whitish hairy stems , which are often purple in color at the top. The simple, short-stalked, up to 10 cm long and 2 cm wide, white-tomentose hairy, pointed leaves have an elongated lanceolate blade, a wrinkled, gray-green surface and a finely toothed blade edge. They smell tart aromatic like black currant .
The terminal or lateral, up to 30 cm long inflorescence is an upright, loose, more or less one-sided cluster with pseudo whorls of 2–8 short-stalked flowers with a double flower envelope . The velvety furry hair on all parts of the flower is striking. The small, lanceolate bracts fall off early. The overgrown, two-lipped, tubular to bell-shaped, 8–12 mm long calyx is hairy white to purple. The 16–20 mm long, white, pale pink or violet corolla is fused into a 13–17 mm long flower tube and ends with two lips. The 3–6 mm long, laterally curved upper crown lip is stretched straight forward. The three-lobed, elongated, bowl-shaped lower crown lip is usually a little longer than the upper crown lip. The flowering period extends from August to November. Small Klaus fruits are formed.
The basic chromosome number is x = 11. There is diploidy , i.e. 2n = 22.
ecology
The flowers of the shrubby sage are ornithophilic , i.e. they are pollinated by birds. This is particularly evident in the bowl-shaped, overgrown lower crown lip, which extends the flower tube and, with the upwardly curved edge, makes it difficult for insects to access the nectar . The flowers are particularly attractive to hummingbirds and nectar birds , but also attract bees and butterflies .
Occurrence
The shrubby sage is native to the subtropical mountain regions of the Central American countries Mexico , Honduras , El Salvador , Costa Rica and Panama and populates there sunny forest edges and light mountain and coniferous forests at altitudes of 700 to 3,400 m on base-rich, moderately nutrient-rich mineral soils. The natural locations are moderately dry to fresh without major summer drought. The plant is considered naturalized in many other countries , for example in Colombia , Venezuela , and Bolivia , in the East African countries Ethiopia , Kenya , Tanzania , Uganda, and Madeira and the Canary Islands .
use
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The shrubby sage is well suited as an ornamental plant for sheltered, full sun places in extensive summer borders and perennial plants, also in combination with other large types of sage such as the red flowering crowded sage . In Mediterranean gardens, the shrubby sage is particularly effective in flower pots, for example next to bitter oranges , olive trees , rosemary and lavender . The plant needs a lot of warmth, full sun and permeable, moderately nutritious soil, which ideally has water-retaining gravel and lava components. The sage is only slightly hardy down to −4 ° C ( zone 9b ) and should therefore be overwintered frost-free in a bright, cool room. The sage is very suitable as a cut flower and retains its colors even when dried.
In horticulture, instead of the wild form with pale inflorescences, varieties with more intensely colored flowers are cultivated, for example 'Midnight' and 'Purple Velvet' (height 100–130 cm, calyx deep purple, crown white to light purple), 'Santa Barbara' (height 60 cm , Cup and crown purple), 'Velor Pink' (height 120 cm, silver-white cup, pink crown). The variety Salvia 'Anthony Parker' (height 150 cm, indigo blue flowers) is probably a hybrid of Salvia leucantha 'Midnight' × Salvia elegans .
Systematics
The first publication of Salvia leucantha was made in 1791 by Antonio José Cavanilles in Icones et descriptiones plantarum , Volume I, p 16. The species-specific name part leucantha means "weißblütig" and refers to the furry white-haired flower of the wild type. Salvia leucantha is assigned to the Salvia subgenus Calosphace . This consists of nearly 500 species native to America , with centers of biodiversity in Mexico , the Andean region , southern Brazil and Argentina .
literature
- Betsy Clebsch: The New Book of Salvias. Timber Press, 2003, ISBN 0-88192-560-8 , pp. 171-174.
- John Sutton: The Gardener's Guide to Growing Salvias. Timber Press, 1999, ISBN 0-88192-474-1 , pp. 90-91.
- John Whittlesey: The Plant Lovers's Guide to Salvias. Timber Press, 2014, ISBN 978-1-60469-419-2 , pp. 120-123.
- The Royal Horticultural Society: Perennials, The Great Encyclopedia. Dorling Kindersley Verlag, Munich 2015, ISBN 978-3-8310-2752-1 , p. 414.
Web links
- Salvia leucantha, velvet sage at galasearch, plant database of garden architecture: (galasearch.de)
- Salvia leucantha at Robin's Salvias: (robinssalvias.com)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Salvia leucantha at Chromosome Counts Database (CCDB): (ccdb.tau.ac.il)
- ^ Petra Wester, Regine Claßen-Bockhoff: Pollination Syndromes of New World Salvia Species with Special Reference to Bird Pollination 1. In: Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden. Volume 98 (1), pp. 101-155, Missouri Botanical Garden Press 2011. (PDF) p. 105.
- ↑ Salvia leucantha at Germplasm Resource Information Network (GRIN): (npgsweb.ars-grin.gov)
- ↑ Salvia leucantha at Plants of the World online: (plantsoftheworldonline.org)
- ^ Antonio José Cavanilles : Icones et descriptiones plantarum. Volume I (1791), p. 16. (bibdigital.rjb.csic.es)
- ↑ Salvia leucantha at World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP): (wcsp.science.kew.org)
- ↑ Jay B. Walker, Kenneth J. Sytsma, Jens Treutlein, Michael Wink: Salvia (Lamiaceae) is not monophyletic: implications for the systematics, radiation, and ecological specializations of Salvia and tribe Mentheae. In: American Journal of Botany. Volume 91 (7), 2004, pp. 1115-1125, doi: 10.3732 / ajb.91.7.1115 .