North Carolina Botanical Garden

Plant Index

Scientific Name:
Common Name:
Genus:
Family:

Salvia azurea

Salvia azurea Michx. ex Lam.

azure blue sage

Image ID: 8210
Image by: Parkins, Grant Morrow
Image Collection: NCBG Digital Library

PLANT INDEX

ID_PLANT: SAAZ
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Salvia azurea
Include in WOTAS: 1
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2019-09-06

GENUS INDEX

GENUS CODE: SALVI
GENUS SCIENTIFIC: Salvia
GENUS AUTHORITY: L.
GENUS COMMON: Sage
GENUS SUMMARY: A genus of about 900 species, shrubs and herbs, almost cosmopolitan. Walker et al. (2004) have determined that Salvia as traditionally circumscribed is polyphyletic.
GENUS IDENTIFICATION:
GENUS REFERENCES: Epling (1938)=Z; Stace (2010)=Y; Walker et al. (2004).

FAMILY INDEX

FAMILY CODE: LAMIAC
FAMILY SCIENTIFIC: Lamiaceae
FAMILY AUTHORITY: Lindley 1836 or LABIATAE A.L. de Jussieu 1789
FAMILY COMMON: Mint Family
FAMILY SUMMARY: A family of about 230-250 genera and 6700-7170 species, herbs, shrubs, vines, and trees, cosmopolitan. The placement in the Lamiaceae of several genera traditionally placed in Verbenaceae (e.g. Clerodendrum) is strongly supported by several lines of evidence.
FAMILY REFERENCE: Harley et al. in Kadereit (2004).

NCBG DESCRIPTIVES

INTRO: Erect perennial of sandhills, hammocks and dry sandy or rocky woodlands.
STEMS: Stems 1-several from a single crown, 4-angled, simple or branched above, hairy.
LEAVES: Leaves opposite, narrowly elliptic to lance-shaped and tapering at both ends, to 3 1/2 in. long, grayish-green, toothed, with short gray hairs; scent when crushed resembles culinary sage.
INFLORESCENCE:
FLOWERS: Flowers in upright, loose, terminal spikes; intense blue; 1/2-1 in.long; bilaterally symmetric; tubular and opening to 2 lips, the upper much smaller and hood-like and the lower 3-lobed and (usually) with white stripes or smudges. The calyx is also tubular.
FRUITS:
COMMENTS:
HEIGHT: 2-5 ft.

DURATION: Perennial
HABIT: Herb

LEAF ARRANGEMENT: Opposite
LEAF COMPLEXITY: Simple
LEAF RETENTION:

FLORAL CHARACTERISTICS
SYMMETRY: Bilateral (Zygomorphic)
BLOOM TIME: Aug-Oct

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
								x	x	x

BLOOM COLOR: Blue

White	Red	Pink	Orange	Yellow	Green	Blue	Lavender	Purple	Violet	Brown	Not Applicable
x						x

FRUITING PERIOD:

DISTRIBUTION
HABITAT TYPE: Dry forests, Sandhills
NATIVE RANGE: southeastern United States

HORTICULTURAL
Plant Sale Text: This native salvia has striking blue flowers in fall. It has a spare upright form and can have great impact when grown with other mid size perennials like star tickseed to compliment its color and form. Other good companions are warm season grasses such as common little-bluestem or yellow indian grass. Of particular interest to most gardeners is that this salvia, like most others, is generally ignored by deer. Not only that but it is easy to grow, incredibly drought tolerant and a good nectar source for fall pollinators.

Bloom Table Text: This native salvia has striking blue flowers in fall. It has a spare upright form and can have great impact when grown with other mid size perennials like star tickseed to compliment its color and form. Other good companions are warm season grasses such as common little-bluestem or yellow indian grass. Of particular interest to most gardeners is that this salvia, like most others, is generally ignored by deer. Not only that but it is easy to grow, incredibly drought tolerant and a good nectar source for fall pollinators.

NCBG Location: Education Center Landscapes

Cultural Notes:

SOIL MOISTURE: Dry, Average
LIGHT EXPOSURE: Sun
MINIMUM HARDINESS ZONE: 3
MAXIMUM HARDINESS ZONE: 9
GERMINATION CODE:
WILDLIFE VALUE: Bee Friendly, Butterfly Friendly
DEER RESISTANCE:

GRIM COLLECTIONS

Coll_id	Project	Collection date	Collector	Action
242	HORT	2008-10-20	Walker	View
244	HORT	2009-11-19	Poythress	View
245	HORT	2010-11-22	Poythress	View

GRIM ACCESSIONS

acc_id	acc_num	acc_dt	coll_id	Action
242	2011-0071	2011-04-28	245	View
9225	2008-0284	2020-05-07	242	View

GRIM PLANTINGS

plt_num	acc_id	loc_num	pers_num	inst_dt	Action
551	242	48	NCBG staff	2011-04-27	View
552	242	44	NCBG staff	2011-10-18	View
553	242	48	NCBG staff	2011-10-18	View
12329	9225	54	NCBG staff	2009-09-09	View

USDA PLANTS DATABASE

USDA Symbol: SAAZ
USDA Common Name: Azure Blue Sage
Native Status: L48 (N)
Distribution: USA (AL, AR, CO, CT, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, NE, NM, NY, OH, OK, SC, TN, TX, UT, WI)
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Forb/herb

WEAKLEY FLORA

SCIENTIFIC NAME:
COMMON NAME:
SYNONYMY:
PHENOLOGY:
HABITAT:
COMMENTS:
RANGE MAP:

Key to Map Symbols

ABOUT FAMILY (Weakley Flora)
Lamiaceae Lindley 1836 or LABIATAE A.L. de Jussieu 1789 (Mint Family)
SUMMARY: A family of about 230-250 genera and 6700-7170 species, herbs, shrubs, vines, and trees, cosmopolitan. The placement in the Lamiaceae of several genera traditionally placed in Verbenaceae (e.g. Clerodendrum) is strongly supported by several lines of evidence.
REFERENCE: Harley et al. in Kadereit (2004).

ABOUT GENUS (Weakley Flora)
Salvia L. (Sage)
SUMMARY: A genus of about 900 species, shrubs and herbs, almost cosmopolitan. Walker et al. (2004) have determined that Salvia as traditionally circumscribed is polyphyletic.
REFERENCE: Epling (1938)=Z; Stace (2010)=Y; Walker et al. (2004).

HERBARIUM RESOURCES

SERNEC: Find Salvia azurea in Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)
UNC SERNEC: Find Salvia azurea in University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Herbarium - Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)

WEB RESOURCES

USDA: Find Salvia azurea in USDA Plants
NPIN: Find Salvia azurea in NPIN Database
FNA: Find Salvia azurea in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Salvia azurea

IMAGE USE RECORDS

ID IMAGE: 8210 - Primary Image FloraQuest Plant Detail Page (Landscape Preferred)
ID IMAGE1: 17045 - Primary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE2: 0 - Secondary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE3: 30370 - Primary Image Plant Sale Sign (Landscape Only)
ID IMAGE4: 0 - Primary Image New Plant Sale Label (Portrait Only)