Salvias Linn.

is a genus of 900+ species in the family Labiatae (Lamiaceae) 500+ species are to be found in the Americas whilst the rest spread all over the temperate and sub-tropical areas of the world with the exception of Australasia.

They are highly ornamental flowering plants, popular as garden plants.

Salvia Officianalis, Common Sage has through the ages been a highly important medicinal herb.

The genus is very diverse from dwarf shrubs to herbaceous perrenials and woody shrubs.

Hardy species commence flowering in May and, if pruned after flowering, many will repeat flowering through the summer months.

Half hardy and tender species commence flowering July onwards until November, or later if mild weather.

Species from more tropical areas will not flower until late summer or the autumn. some will rarely flower in the UK unless conditions are exceptionally mild.

CHARACTERISTICS:

All salvias have aromatic foilage, some more than others. The aromatic oils are produced by the epidermal glands and these help to prevent the foilage being eaten by animals and help to prevent the dessication by strong sunlight.

All have opposite leaves of which there are three types:

a) Basal leaves, either forming a rosette or a large basal clump.

b) Stem leaves. Not always present when Basal leaves are present. When in conjunction with Basal leaves they are usually and often different, either with a shorter leaf stalk (petiolate) or without

(sessile). In the case of a shrub or perennial species, the leaves are all stem leaves and distributed all over the plant.

c) Flower stem leaves. These can be the same as the stem leave or adapted to form bracts which are often coloured and may fall as the buds open (persistent), in which case they are often as colourfull and attreactive as the flowers.

The leaves are usually simple with only one leaflet or else they can be Pinnete with several pairs of leaflets that are arranged either side of the central stalk.

Leaf margins may be smooth (entire), fringed with hairs (ciliate) or variously lobed, serrate, crenate, or pinnatisect. The margins can also be undulate. Leaf surface may be without hairs (glabrous) but mostly covered with some indumentum.

Leaf surface can be rough and wrinkled (rugose) and the colour ranging from varios shades of green to grey, nearly white or purple.

All salvias have square stems which are usually hairy to a varying degree and tend to be woody near the plant base.

Flowers are arranged in false whorls (verticillasters) on a spike, a raceme, or on a panicle.

A whorl may consist of only one pair of flowers, have large numbers of flowers crowded together forming a dense and globular head (glomerule) or any other amount between these two extremes.

Whorls are either well spced\apart on the stem or close together, appearing to be continuous.

The corolla are formed by the flowers petals joining to form a tube with two lips, which may be partially protruding from the calyx (included) or fully protruding (exserted). They may also be inflated.

There are always two stamens, occasionally these may be exserted from the corolla. The upper lip may be straight or hooded. Bottom lips consist of three lobes. The tube and the upper lip in particular may be hairy, giving a velvety appearance.

The throat of the corolla often have markings. usually white in colour.

The calyx, formed by two sepals joining, has two lips. The upper lip usually has three spines with the lower lip having two.

It may be green or a totally different colour.

It may fall with the corolla or persist after the corolla has fallen and may enlarge with seed formation.

Size can vary considerably and is not dependant of the size of the flower.

The calyx may be hairless (glabrous), glandular hairy or be covered in long coulored hairs.

There are three types of root. As well as ordinary fibrous roots some species have underground runners with which the plant spreads. Other species have tuberoous roots, these may be dried and stored over winter.

Most salvias, particulary the bushy perennials and shrubby types are easily propagated from cuttings. Species that are especially hairy or have grey foilage tend to be more difficult. Heating from below and the use of hormon rooting powder can be beneficial but not essential for most species. Spring and Summer are the usual times for taking cuttings although cuttings may be taken at any time of the growing season. A mixture of of 2/3 cocoa fibre or peat and 1/3 sharp sand or vermiculite is a good growing medium.

Very soft cuttings may be encouraged by removing the growing tip and most of the leaves, or cutting larger leaves in half. Five cuttings can be propagated in a 3.5 inch pot. If no propagation unit is being used, pots can be covered with a polythene bag secured with an elastic band. Rooted cuttings should be potted up into individual pots with a ready mix compost and transfered to a shdy area of the greenhouse. Growing tips should be pinched out on a regular basis to encourage a bushy plant growth. When large enough the plants should be potted into larger pots and hardened off before planting out in April for the hardier species and May for tenderer species.

Many salvias are grown from seed, especially those that have no obvious cutting material. Seed may be sown with the same mixture as for cuttings from mid February onwards. seed should be covered lightly except for fine seed which can be left uncovered. Most species will germinate within a week gentle bottom heat.

To ensure plants are exact as their parent they should be propagated vegetatively

Salvia is the largest genus of plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae, with approximately 900 species of shrubs, herbaceous perennials, and annuals. It is one of three genera commonly referred to as sage. When used without modifiers, sage generally refers to Salvia officinalis ("common sage"); however, it can be used with modifiers to refer to any member of the genus. The ornamental species are commonly referred to by their scientific name Salvia. The genus is distributed throughout the world, with the center of diversity and origin appearing to be Central and South Western Asia, while nearly 500 species are native to Mexico and Central and South America.

The name is derived from the Latin salvere ("to save"), referring to the long-believed healing properties of salvia. The Latin was corrupted to 'sauja', to the French 'sauge', and to the old English 'sawge', and eventually became the modern day 'sage'. Pliny the Elder was the first to use the Latin name salvia.

Description Salvia species include annual, biennial, or perennial herbs, along with woody based sub-shrubs. The stems are typically angled like other members in Lamiaceae. The flowers are produced in spike,

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 with the upper lip entire or notched and spreading. The lower lip typically has three lobes with the middle lobe longest. The stamens 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 nutlets and many species have a mucilaginous coating.

Many salvias have 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 animals and some insects.

Salvia species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera (butterfly and moth) species including the bucculatricid leaf-miner Bucculatrix taeniola which feeds exclusively on the genus and the Coleophora case-bearers C. aegyptiacae, C. salviella (both feed exclusively on S. aegyptiaca), C. ornatipennella and C. virgatella (both recorded on S. pratensis).

Classification The defining characteristic of the genus Salvia is the unusual pollination mechanism, which consists of two stamens (instead of the typical four found in other members of the tribe Mentheae) and the way the two stamens are connected to form a lever. When a pollinator enters the flower for nectar, the lever activates causing the stamens to move and the pollen to be deposited on the pollinator. When the pollinator withdraws from the flower, the lever returns the stamens to their original position. As the pollinator enters another flower of the same species, the stigma is placed in a general location that corresponds to where the pollen was deposited on the pollinator's body. It is believed that this is a key factor in the speciation of this large group of diverse plants. However, it now appears that somewhat different versions of this lever mechanism have evolved in the tribe Mentheae, and that Salvia is not monophyletic.

The classification of different Salvia species has been very confusing over the years. Many species are similar to each other, and many species have varieties that have been given different specific names. Salvia officinalis, for example, has been described and named under six other specific names at various times. At one time there were over 2000 named Salvia species. That number has been reduced in recent years to 700-900 distinct species and subspecies, depending on the source.

Commonly used species Salvia officinalis, or "Common sage" is used widely in cooking and as a herbal medicine. It shows promise as a treatment for Alzheimer's disease patients. Salvia miltiorrhiza (red sage) is used in Traditional Chinese medicine. Salvia splendens or "Scarlet sage" is a popular ornamental bedding or pot plant. Salvia apiana is the "whitesage" used in smudge sticks in many U.S. Native American traditions. Salvia divinorum, or "Diviner's sage", is an unusual psychedelic plant; its legality is pending in some US states.

Selected species

Salvia apiana - White sage. Salvia argentea - Silver sage. Salvia arizonica - Arizona sage. Salvia austriaca - Austrian sage. Salvia azurea - Azure sage. Salvia clevelandii - Cleveland sage. Salvia coccinea - Blood sage. Salvia columbariae - Chia sage. Salvia divinorum - Diviner's sage. Salvia dorrii - Ute Tobacco Sage. Salvia elegans - Pineapple sage.

Salvia farinacea - Mealycup sage.

Salvia fruticosa - Greek sage. Salvia fulgens - Cardinal sage. Salvia glutinosa - Jupiter's sage. Salvia greggii - Autumn sage. Salvia guaranitica - Anise-scented sage. Salvia hispanica - Golden chia. Salvia leucantha - Mexican bush sage. Salvia leucophylla - Purple sage. Salvia lyrata - Lyre-leafed. Salvia mexicana - Mexican sage. Salvia mohavensis - Mojave sage. Salvia microphylla - Baby sage.

Salvia miltiorrhiza - Chinese sage. Salvia nemorosa - Meadow sage Salvia officinalis - Common sage. Salvia patens - Gentian sage. Salvia pratensis - Meadow clary. Salvia sclarea - Clary sage. Salvia spathacea - Hummingbird sage. Salvia splendens - Scarlet sage. Salvia uliginosa - Bog sage. Salvia verbenaca - Wild clary, Wild sage. Salvia verticillata - Lilac sage. Salvia viridis -Annual clary.

Notes 1.Clebsch, p. 19. 2.Kintzios, p. 10. 3.Clebsch, p. 17. 4.Sutton, p. 17. 5.Clebsch, p. 18. 6.Tan, Benny K.-H., Boon-Huat Bay, and Yi-Zhun Zhu. 2004. Novel compounds from natural products in the new millennium: potential and challenges. Singapore: World Scientific. Page 183. 7.http://hort.ufl.edu/shrubs/SALSPLA.PDF

References Sage: The Genus Salvia by Spiridon E. Kintzios, CRC Press, 2000. ISBN 9789058230058. The Gardener's Guide to Growing Salvias by John Sutton, Timber Press, 1999. ISBN 978-0881924749. The New Book of Salvias by Betsy Clebsch, Timber Press, 2003. ISBN 9780881925609. An excellent reference on salvias.

External links USDA on Genus Salvia