Salvia verticillata

Salvia verticillata
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Lamiales
Family:	Lamiaceae
Genus:	Salvia
Species:	S. verticillata
Binomial name
Salvia verticillata L.

Salvia verticillata, the lilac sage^[1] or whorled clary, is a herbaceous perennial native to a wide area ranging from central Europe to western Asia, and naturalized in northern Europe and North America. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753.^[2]

Salvia verticillata has a leafy base of mid-green leaves covered with hairs, putting up leaf-covered stems that carry 3 feet (0.91 m) inflorescences. The tiny lavender flowers grow tightly packed in whorls, with tiny lime-green and purple calyces. The specific epithet verticillata refers to the whorls that grow in verticils. A cultivar introduced in the 1990s, 'Purple Rain', is much more showy and long-blooming, growing about 2 feet (0.61 m) tall.^[2]

References

1. "Salvia verticillata". Natural Resources Conservation Service PLANTS Database. USDA. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
2. Clebsch, Betsy; Barner, Carol D. (2003). The New Book of Salvias. Timber Press. p. 298. ISBN 978-0-88192-560-9.