Duration: Perennial

Nativity: Native

Lifeform: Subshrub

General: Suffrutescent perennial 30-70 cm, with simple stems, puberulent and sparsely villous.

Leaves: Deltoid-ovate to oblong-ovate, blades to 25 mm long, unequally serrulate or serrulate-crenulate, truncate to slightly cuneate at the base, acute to obtuse at the apex, puberulent on the upper surface, puberulent and sparsely villous beneath, especially along the veins.

Flowers: Racemose, mostly 2 per node and opposite, at ends of branches; calyx 7-10 mm long, puberulent and glandular-punctate; corolla lavender to crimson, to 25 mm long.

Fruits: Smooth nutlets.

Ecology: Fround on dry, rocky slopes, often in canyons from 6,000-8,000 ft (1829-2438 m); flowers July-October.

Notes: The upturned flowers at the ends of the stem, its shrubby habit, and ovate leaves all help to distinguish this species.

Ethnobotany: Unknown, but other species in the genera have uses.

Etymology: Salvia comes from Latin salveo, or I am well, while lemmonii is named for John Gill Lemmon (1832-1908) and his wife Sara Plummer Lemmon (1836-1923) who collected in Arizona in 1884.

Synonyms: Salvia microphylla var. wislizeni

Editor: SBuckley, 2010