''Salvia farinacea'', the mealycup sage, or mealy sage, is a herbaceous perennial native to

Nuevo León Nuevo León, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nuevo León, is a Administrative divisions of Mexico, state in northeastern Mexico. The state borders the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, Zacatecas, and San Luis Potosí, San Luis ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and parts of the United States including

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

and

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

. Violet-blue spikes rest on a compact plant of typically narrow salvia-like leaves; however, the shiny leaves are what set this species apart from most other ''Salvia'', which bear velvety-dull leaves.

Description

The mealycup sage reaches stature heights of 60 to 90 cm. The shape of the

leaf blade A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, fl ...

varies from ovate-lanceolate to

lanceolate The following terms are used to describe leaf plant morphology, morphology in the description and taxonomy (biology), taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (that is, the leaf blade or 'lamina' is undivided) or compound (that is, the leaf blade ...

. The

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

axis forms a blue, rarely a white hair. The truncated calyx has very short calyx teeth. They are dense blue or white hairy, so that the individual enamel teeth are barely recognisable. The bright blue-white flowers are slim and gleaming. The crown will be about 2.5 inches long. Inside the crown there is no ring-shaped hair strip. The first description of ''S. farinacea'' was made in 1833 by

George Bentham George Bentham (22 September 1800 – 10 September 1884) was an English botanist, described by the weed botanist Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century". Born into a distinguished family, he initially studie ...

in Labiatarum Genera et Species, p. 274. Synonyms for ''S. farinacea'' Benth. include ''Salvia linearis'' Sessé & Moc. and ''S. virgata'' Ortega.

Cultivation

This plant requires full or partial sun and will grow to 18 inches or more with good soil and will attract

butterflies Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

and

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. The plant is hardy to

USDA Hardiness Zones A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most widely ...

8–10. The plant flowers from June to frost. In the temperate latitudes, it is cultivated as an

annual plant An annual plant is a plant that completes its life cycle, from germination to the production of seeds, within one growing season, and then dies. Globally, 6% of all plant species and 15% of herbaceous plants (excluding trees and shrubs) are ...

and used as an

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or ''garden plants'' are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars th ...

in parks and gardens, especially in summer discounts. It can also be used as a

cut flower Cut flowers are flowers and flower buds (often with some stem and leaf) that have been cut from the plant bearing it. It is removed from the plant for decorative use. Cut greens are leaves with or without stems added to the cut flowers for con ...

. Several cultivars are cultivated, such as 'Blue Bedder', 'Victoria' with intense violet-blue flowers and 'Strata' with white and blue flowers. Crosses between ''S. farinacea'' and '' S. longispicata'' (''S. longispicata × S. farinacea'') are widely sold as ornamental plants, such as ' Indigo Spires' and 'Mystic Spires Blue'.Eckehart J. Jäger, Friedrich Ebel, Peter Hanelt, Gerd K. Mueller (Hrsg.): Excursion flora of Germany . Founded by Werner Rothmaler. Volume 5 : Herbaceous ornamental and useful plants . Springer, Spektrum Academic Publisher, Berlin / Heidelberg 2008, , p. 512 .

Cultivars

*''S. farinacea'' 'Blue Bedder' *''S. farinacea'' 'Strata' *''S. farinacea'' 'Victoria' * ''Salvia'' Indigo Spires ('' S. longispicata × S. farinacea'') * ''Salvia'' Mystic Spires Blue (''S. longispicata × S. farinacea'')

Gallery

Salvia 'Mystic Spires Blue'.JPG, ''Salvia farinacea'' x ''Salvia longispicata'' "Mystic Spires Blue' Bombus terrestris - Salvia farinacea victoria - Tallinn.jpg,

Bumblebee A bumblebee (or bumble bee, bumble-bee, or humble-bee) is any of over 250 species in the genus ''Bombus'', part of Apidae, one of the bee families. This genus is the only Extant taxon, extant group in the tribe Bombini, though a few extinct r ...

s are very attracted to mealycup sage cultivars Salvia_farinacea_HC1.jpg, Inflorescence Salvia_farinacea_HC2.jpg, Natural habitat File:Starr_070906-8642_Salvia_farinacea.jpg, Leaves and flowers File:台中花毯節 20201219205051 03.jpg, Exhibition of Flower Festival, Taichung, Taiwan.

References

External links

USDA Plants Profile
{{Taxonbar, from=Q796716 farinacea Plants described in 1833 Flora of Oklahoma Flora of Texas Flora of Nuevo León Flora without expected TNC conservation status