Frankie Coburn @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA)
Yavapai County Native & Naturalized Plants
   
 
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Plant Image
Flowers
Frankie Coburn @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA)
Plant Description

Origin: Native  Similar Species: salvia dorii ssp. mearnsii
General Description: Evergreen. A rounded bush with many rigid, spine-tipped branches, silvery leaves, often broader than high, with numerous silvery-gray leaves and rigid, often spiny branches. Flower bracts are broad, about 1/3 inch wide and are reddish-purple to pale blue.
Identification notes: A multi-branched shrub with dense bracted clusters of flowers at the ends of branches; flower tubes about 1/2 inch long, exerted stamens, sepals 1/8 to 1/2 inch long; grayish, hairy but not dissected leaves distinguish this plant.
Height: 2 to 3 feet     Width: 2 to 3 feet


Habitat

Habitat Description: Grows in sandy, rocky or limestone soil on dry open slopes, on flats or foothills, often associated with pinyon-juniper, sagebrush, chaparral, and cool desert shrub habitats.
Plant Communities: Desert Scrub, Interior Chaparral, Semidesert Grasslands, Pinyon Juniper Woodland
Elevation: 2500 - 5000 feet


Flowers

Color: Pale blue to reddish-purple    Shape: Irregular in round clusters    Tubular: N   Flowering Period: May - Jul
Description: Flowers 1/2 inch long in a series of showy, terminal clusters. Flowers have longer 3-lobed bottom lips, shorter 2-lobed upper lips. Stamens extend beyond the corolla. The style is narrow, long and 2-parted.


Leaves

Leaf Color: Grayish   Type: Simple   Shape: Round or oval   Margin: Smooth   Attachment: Opposite   Hairs: Top and bottom of leaves
Description: Leaves are opposite, oval, 1/2 to 1-1/2 inches long, 1/5 to 1/2 inch wide, are widest at the tip and taper to the stem. Leaves have a smooth margin, are grayish, aromatic, and are retained on the plant throughout the winter months.


Fruit

Color: Brown   Type: Achene   Description: 4 thick-walled achenes are produced per flower.


Bark/Branches

Bark Color: Green to brown   Bark Texture (Mature): Rough   Bark and Branch Description: The plant has rough bark that peels off the mature woody branches.
Spines, thorns or prickles: N

  Arizona Cooperative Extension
Yavapai County
840 Rodeo Dr #C
Prescott, AZ 86305
(928) 445-6590
Version 8.0  
http://cales.arizona.edu/yavapaiplants/SpeciesDetail.php  
Last Updated: Dec 13, 2022
Content Questions/Comments: Email Matt Halldorson  
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