''Salvia splendens'', the scarlet sage, is a tender

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of ...

perennial plant In horticulture, the term perennial (''wikt:per-#Prefix, per-'' + ''wikt:-ennial#Suffix, -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annual plant, annuals and biennial plant, biennials. It has thus been d ...

native to Brazil, growing at elevation where it is warm year-round and with high humidity. The wild form, rarely seen in cultivation, reaches tall. Smaller

cultivars A cultivar is a kind of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and which retains those traits when propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue cult ...

are very popular as bedding plants, seen in shopping malls and public gardens all over the world.Mark Griffiths, Editor. ''Index of Garden Plants'', 2nd American Edition. (Portland, Oregon: Timber Press, 1995. .)

Taxonomy

''Salvia splendens'' was first described and named in 1822. At that time it was given the common name "Lee's scarlet sage". Before the plant was selected to become dwarf in size, an early Dutch selection named 'Van Houttei' was chosen and is still popular in the horticulture trade.

Description

The native type is rarely used or described, though it grew from in height. 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 In general, a node is a localized swelling (a "knot") or a point of intersection (a vertex). Node may refer to: In mathematics * Vertex (graph theory), a vertex in a mathematical graph *Vertex (geometry), a point where two or more curves, lines ...

; 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.

Cultivation

It is widely grown 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 ...

, 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 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 ...

. 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 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' and 'Van-Houttei' have gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. It includes the full range of cultivated p ...

References

External links

UC Berkeley: Observations on ''Salvia splendens''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q161080 splendens Flora of Brazil Medicinal plants Plants used in traditional Chinese medicine Garden plants of South America Plants that can bloom all year round