Blue Sage, Salvia pachyphylla

About Blue Sage (Salvia pachyphylla) 17 Nurseries Carry This Plant

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Salvia pachyphylla (Blue sage, Mountain desert sage) is a perennial shrub native to California, Nevada, and Arizona. In California, it grows between 5,000 to 10,000 ft (1,500 to 3,000 m) elevation on dry rocky slopes, blooming from July to September. It reaches 1 to 2 ft (0. 30 to 0. 61 m) high, with blue-violet flowers, rarely rose, growing in dense clusters. In the course of a study of the chemical composition of the flora used in Latin American popular medicine, Ivan C. Guerrero and coworkers have performed phytochemical studies of extracts of the aerial parts from Salvia pachyphylla and Salvia clevelandii . S. pachyphylla is used by indigenous communities for its medicinal properties in the treatment of flu symptom. The major secondary metabolites isolated from these species and the cytotoxic effects against five human cancer cells were reported for eight of the compounds obtained: carnosol, rosmanol, 20-deoxocarnosol, carnosic acid, isorosmanol, 7-methoxyrosmanol, 5,6-didehydro-O-methylsugiol, 8?-hydroxy-9(11),13-abietadien-12-one, 11,12-dioxoabieta-8,13-diene, and 11,12-dihydroxy-20-norabieta-5(10),8,11,13-tetraen-1-one and pachyphyllone.

Plant Description

Plant Type

Shrub

Size

1 - 2.6 ft tall

Flower Color

Blue, Purple

Flowering Season

Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall

Wildlife Supported

Butterflies & moths hosted ( 8 likely * ) SHOW ALL

White-lined Sphinx Hyles lineataHyles lineata

Alfalfa Looper Moth Autographa californicaAutographa californica

Bilobed Looper Moth Megalographa bilobaMegalographa biloba

Wavy-Lined Emerald Synchlora aerataSynchlora aerata

Hawaiian Beet Webworm Spoladea recurvalisSpoladea recurvalis

Pherne subpunctataPherne subpunctata

Anstenoptilia marmarodactylaAnstenoptilia marmarodactyla

Landscaping Information

Sun

Full Sun, Part Shade

Moisture

Extremely Low, Very Low

Nurseries

Carried by 17

Ease of Care

Moderately Easy

Soil Drainage

Fast

Soil Description

Prefers sandy or gravelly soils

Common uses

Bird Gardens, Butterfly Gardens, Bee Gardens

Propagation?

For propagating by seed: No treatment.

Natural Setting

Site Type

Dry slopes

Climate

Annual Precipitation: 4.9" - 45.6", Summer Precipitation: 0.54" - 4.38", Coldest Month: 26.9" - 58.8", Hottest Month: 52.8" - 87.5", Humidity: 2.04" - 38.31", Elevation: 506" - 10742"

Alternative Names

Common Names: Rose Sage, Thick-leaved Sage

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Sources include: Wikipedia. All text shown in the "About" section of these pages is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Plant observation data provided by the participants of the California Consortia of Herbaria, Sunset information provided by Jepson Flora Project. Propogation from seed information provided by the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden from "Seed Propagation of Native California Plants" by Dara E. Emery. Sources of plant photos include CalPhotos, Wikimedia Commons, and independent plant photographers who have agreed to share their images with Calscape. Other general sources of information include Calflora, CNPS Manual of Vegetation Online, Jepson Flora Project, Las Pilitas, Theodore Payne, Tree of Life, The Xerces Society, and information provided by CNPS volunteer editors, with special thanks to Don Rideout. Climate data used in creation of plant range maps is from PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University, using 30 year (1981-2010) annual "normals" at an 800 meter spatial resolution.

Links: Jepson eFlora Taxon Page CalPhotos Wikipedia Calflora

Blue Sage

Salvia pachyphylla

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Blue SageSalvia pachyphylla

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Blue Sage

Salvia pachyphylla