Salvia splendens
{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}
{{Speciesbox
|image = Salvia splendens (357118788).jpg
|genus = Salvia
|species = splendens
|authority = Sellow ex J.A. Schultes
}}
Salvia splendens, the scarlet sage,{{GRIN | access-date = 6 February 2021}} is a tender herbaceous perennial plant native to Brazil, growing at {{convert|2000|to|3000|m|ft|abbr=on}} elevation where it is warm year-round and with high humidity. The wild form, rarely seen in cultivation, reaches {{convert|1.3|m|ft|abbr=on}} tall. Smaller cultivars are very popular as bedding plants, seen in shopping malls and public gardens all over the world.{{cite book|last1=Clebsch|first1=Betsy|last2=Barner|first2=Carol D.|title=The New Book of Salvias|publisher=Timber Press|year=2003|pages=278–280|isbn=978-0-88192-560-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NM0iwB8GrQYC&pg=PA278}}Mark Griffiths, Editor. Index of Garden Plants, 2nd American Edition. (Portland, Oregon: Timber Press, 1995. {{ISBN|0-88192-246-3}}.)
Taxonomy
Description
File:Salvia vanhouttei 001.JPGThe native type is rarely used or described, though it grew from {{convert|1.5|to|8|m|ft|abbr=on}} in height.{{fact|date=April 2023}} Its leaves are in even, elliptical arrangements, 7 × 5 cm, with dentate margin and long petioles. It may branch, where upper branches are finely hairy and lower parts hairless. Erect spikes of flowers sprout from the centre of the plant in groups of 2 to 6 from each leaf node; scarlet, tubular or bell-shaped, 35 mm long, with two lobes towards the apex; the upper lobe is 13 mm long. It flowers a good part of summer and autumn.
File:台中花毯節 20201219205051 04.jpg
==Cultivation==
It is widely grown as an ornamental plant, with a large number of cultivars selected by different colours from white to dark purple. It is a subtropical species that does not survive freezing temperatures, but can grow in cold climates as an annual plant. The most common selections are the dwarf sizes that go by names such as 'Sizzler' and 'Salsa', and planted en masse in gardens and malls. 'Van Houttei' reaches {{convert|1|to|1.3|m|ft|abbr=on}} in height. The various types typically have red flowers.
=Cultivars=
Named cultivars include:
- S. splendens 'Alba', with white flowers
- 'Atropurpurea', with dark violet to purple flowers
- 'Atrosanguinea', flowers dark red
- 'Bicolor', flowers white and red
- 'Bruantii', small, with red flowers
- 'Compacta', small, flowers in dense racemes, white or red
- 'Grandiflora', large, with large red flowers
- 'Issanchon', small, with white flowers striped pink to red
- 'Nana', an early-flowering cultivar, with red blossoms
- 'Scarlet Pygmy', a very dwarf, early flowering seed race with intense scarlet blossoms
- 'Semperflorens', continuous flowering
- 'Souchetii', small, with white or red flowers
- 'St. John's Fire', dwarf plants with dense, abundant, scarlet, early-flowering, long-lasting blossoms
- 'Violacea', flowers dark violet to purple.
The cultivars 'Vanguard'{{cite web | url = https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/106240/Salvia-splendens-Vanguard/Details | title = Salvia splendens 'Vanguard' | publisher = RHS | access-date = 5 March 2021}} and 'Van-Houttei'{{cite web|title=RHS Plant Selector - Salvia splendens 'Van-Houttei'|url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/153224/Salvia-splendens-Van-Houttei/Details | access-date = 5 March 2021}} have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.{{cite web | url = https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/pdfs/agm-lists/agm-ornamentals.pdf | title = AGM Plants - Ornamental | date = July 2017
| page = 95 | publisher = Royal Horticultural Society | access-date = 14 October 2018}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~llau/piecesofwork/plantmorph.html UC Berkeley: Observations on Salvia splendens]
- [http://www.sagewisdom.org/interview.html Interview with Daniel Siebert on S. splendens and S. divinorum]
{{Taxonbar|from=Q161080}}
Category:Plants used in traditional Chinese medicine