''Salvia elegans'', a species with several varieties including pineapple sage and tangerine sage, is a

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

shrub native to Mexico.

Description

''Salvia elegans'' Pineapple Sage has tubular red flowers and an attractive scent to the leaves that is similar to

pineapple The pineapple (''Ananas comosus'') is a Tropical vegetation, tropical plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae. The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been culti ...

. It produces numerous erect leafy stems up to and flowers in the late autumn. It is a short-day plant. The flowering season in Mexico is August onward; further north it may not flower till later autumn, and if there is no frost, it may flower until spring. The variety "Honey Melon", which has the same pineapple fragrance in the leaves, blooms early in the summer, rather than in autumn. ''Salvia elegans'' Tangerine Sage grows to about tall, has bronze edged leaves and a citrus scent. It is summer flowering.

Phytochemistry

The essential oil of ''S. elegans'' consists primarily of

caffeic acid Caffeic acid is an organic compound with the formula . It is a polyphenol with a key role in scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated in energy metabolism. Caffeic acid is also one major polyphenol responsible for maintaining normal le ...

and its derivatives, such as

rosmarinic acid Rosmarinic acid, named after rosemary (''Salvia rosmarinus'' Spenn.), is a polyphenol constituent of many culinary herbs, including rosemary (''Salvia rosmarinus'' L.), perilla (''Perilla frutescens'' L.), sage (''Salvia officinalis'' L.), min ...

and salvianolic acid, and

flavones Flavones (from Latin ''flavus'' "yellow") are a class of flavonoids based on the backbone of 2-phenylchromen-4-one (2-phenyl-1-benzopyran-4-one) (as shown in the first image of this article). Flavones are common in foods, mainly from spices, and ...

Distribution and habitat

Native to Mexico, the shrub inhabits

Madrean The Madrean region (named after the Sierra Madre Occidental) is a floristic region within the Holarctic kingdom in North America, as delineated by Armen Takhtajan and Robert F. Thorne. It occupies arid or semiarid areas in the southwestern U ...

and

Mesoamerican pine–oak forests The Mesoamerican pine–oak forests is a composite ecoregion of southern Mexico and Central America, designated by the World Wildlife Fund as one of their Global 200 ecoregions, a list of priority ecoregions for conservation. These forests include ...

between .

Ecology

The red flowers are attractive to

hummingbird Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the Family (biology), biological family Trochilidae. With approximately 366 species and 113 genus, genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but most species are found in Cen ...

s and butterflies. In a highland temperate forest in central Mexico, pineapple sage was found to be one of the three most-visited species by hummingbirds.

Cultivation

Pineapple sage was introduced into horticulture about 1870. In cultivation, it typically reaches a height of , with its roots spreading underground to form a large clump. The pale yellow-green leaves are veined and covered with fine hairs. Six to twelve scarlet flowers grow in whorls, featuring a long inflorescence that blooms gradually and lasts for an extended period. With a

hard frost Hard means something that is difficult to do. It may also refer to: * Hardness, resistance of physical materials to deformation or fracture * Hard water, water with high mineral content Arts and entertainment * ''Hard'' (TV series), a French TV ...

, the plant will die down to the ground and grow back the following spring.

Uses

The leaves and flowers are edible. The plant is used in Mexican traditional medicine, especially for anxiety and hypertension.

References

External links

*
''S. elegans''
fro
Floridata
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1521008 elegans Plants described in 1804 Flora of Mexico Taxa named by Martin Vahl