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 te mperate 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 me dicinal 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 wil l 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 eat en 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 conju nction with Basal leaves they are usually and often different, either with a sho rter leaf stalk (petiolate) or without (sessile). In the case of a shrub or pere nnial 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 for m 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 stal k. Leaf margins may be smooth (entire), fringed with hairs (ciliate) or variously l obed, serrate, crenate, or pinnatisect. The margins can also be undulate. Leaf surface may be without hairs (glabrous) but mostly covered with some indume ntum. Leaf surface can be rough and wrinkled (rugose) and the colour ranging from vari os shades of green to grey, nearly white or purple. All salvias have square stems which are usually hairy to a varying degree and te nd 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 c

rowded together forming a dense and globular head (glomerule) or any other amoun t between these two extremes. Whorls are either well spced\apart on the stem or close together, appearing to b e continuous. The corolla are formed by the flowers petals joining to form a tube with two lip s, which may be partially protruding from the calyx (included) or fully protrudi ng (exserted). They may also be inflated. There are always two stamens, occasionally these may be exserted from the coroll a. 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 appearan ce. 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 enl arge 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 coul ored hairs. There are three types of root. As well as ordinary fibrous roots some species ha ve underground runners with which the plant spreads. Other species have tuberoou s roots, these may be dried and stored over winter. Most salvias, particulary the bushy perennials and shrubby types are easily prop agated from cuttings. Species that are especially hairy or have grey foilage ten d to be more difficult. Heating from below and the use of hormon rooting powder can be beneficial but no t 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 p eat 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 p olythene bag secured with an elastic band. Rooted cuttings should be potted up into individual pots with a ready mix compos t and transfered to a shdy area of the greenhouse. Growing tips should be pinched out on a regular basis to encourage a bushy pla nt 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 specie s. 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 Februa ry onwards. seed should be covered lightly except for fine seed which can be lef t uncovered. Most species will germinate within a week gentle bottom heat.

To ensure plants are exact as their parent they should be propagated vegetativel y Salvia is the largest genus of plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae, with approx imately 900 species of shrubs, herbaceous perennials, and annuals. It is one of three genera commonly referred to as sage. When used without modifiers, sage gen erally refers to Salvia officinalis ("common sage"); however, it can be used wit h modifiers to refer to any member of the genus. The ornamental species are comm only referred to by their scientific name Salvia. The genus is distributed throu ghout 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 Centr al and South America. The name is derived from the Latin salvere ("to save"), referring to the long-be lieved 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 b ased 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 yell ow less common. The calyx is normally tubular or bell shaped, without bearded th roats, 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 wit h the upper lip entire or notched and spreading. The lower lip typically has thr ee lobes with the middle lobe longest. The stamens are reduced to two short stru ctures 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 secret e volatile oils that typically give a distinct aroma to the plant. When the hair s are rubbed or brushed, some of the oil-bearing cells are ruptured, releasing t he oil. This often results in the plant being unattractive to grazing animals an d some insects. Salvia species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera (butter fly and moth) species including the bucculatricid leaf-miner Bucculatrix taeniol a which feeds exclusively on the genus and the Coleophora case-bearers C. aegypt iacae, 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 mech anism, 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 for m a lever. When a pollinator enters the flower for nectar, the lever activates c ausing the stamens to move and the pollen to be deposited on the pollinator. Whe n the pollinator withdraws from the flower, the lever returns the stamens to the ir original position. As the pollinator enters another flower of the same specie s, the stigma is placed in a general location that corresponds to where the poll en was deposited on the pollinator's body. It is believed that this is a key fac tor in the speciation of this large group of diverse plants. However, it now app ears that somewhat different versions of this lever mechanism have evolved in th

e 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 t hat have been given different specific names. Salvia officinalis, for example, h as 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 so urce. 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 Amer ican traditions. Salvia divinorum, or "Diviner's sage", is an unusual psychedelic plant; its leg ality 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 Salvia Salvia Salvia Salvia Salvia

spathacea - Hummingbird sage. splendens - Scarlet sage. uliginosa - Bog sage. verbenaca - Wild clary, Wild sage. verticillata - Lilac sage. 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: Wor ld Scientific. Page 183. 7.http://hort.ufl.edu/shrubs/SALSPLA.PDF

References Sage: The Genus Salvia by Spiridon E. Kintzios, CRC Press, 2000. ISBN 978905823 0058. The Gardener's Guide to Growing Salvias by John Sutton, Timber Press, 1999. ISB N 978-0881924749. The New Book of Salvias by Betsy Clebsch, Timber Press, 2003. ISBN 978088192560 9. An excellent reference on salvias.

External links USDA on Genus Salvia