Salvia deserta Schangin

A very close relative of the Eurasian Salvia nemerosa Linnaeus; the purple-red bracts are distinctive.

Plants perennial. Stems erect, to 70 cm, pilose, puberulent. Petiole 0-4 cm; leaf blade ovate to lanceolate-ovate, 4-9 × 1.5-5 cm, adaxially bullate, scabrous, abaxially pubescent, base cordate, margin irregularly crenate-serrate, apex acute to acuminate. Inflorescences densely puberulent; verticillasters 4-6-flowered, in elongated terminal racemes or panicles; bracts broadly ovate, purple-red, 4-6 mm, base rounded, margin entire, apex caudate-acuminate to acuminate. Pedicel ca. 1.5 mm. Calyx ovoid-campanulate, 5-6 mm, sparsely yellow-brown glandular, finely pilose on veins, 2-lipped to ca. 1/3 its length; upper lip semicircular, ca. 1.5 × 4 mm, apex 3-denticulate; middle tooth smaller, slightly reflexed; lower lip longer than upper, ca. 3 × 4 mm, deeply 2-toothed, teeth narrow triangular. Corolla blue-purple to purple, 9-10 mm, finely pilose, yellow-brown glandular; tube ca. 8 mm, ca. 2 mm wide at base, ca. 3 mm wide at throat, straight; upper lip elliptic, ca. 5 × 3.5 mm; lower lip subcircular, ca. 5 × 6.5 mm, margin undulate; lateral lobes elliptic, ca. 2 mm wide. Filaments ca. 2 mm; connectives ca. 6.5 mm, upper arms ca. 4.5 mm, lower arms ca. 2 mm. Nutlets black, obovoid, ca. 1.5 mm. Fl. and fr. Jun-Oct.

Xinjiang [Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia]

Waste places, sandy grasslands, streamsides in forests; 300-1800 m.

Salvia deserta is a perennial plant that is native to Xinjiang province in China, and the countries of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. It grows in wastelands, sandy grasslands, and along streams in forests at elevations from 300 to 1,800 m (980 to 5,910 ft).

Salvia deserta grows on erect stems to 70 cm (28 in) tall, with ovate to lanceolate-ovate leaves. Inflorescences are 4-6 flowered verticillasters in elongated terminal racemes or panicles, with a blue-purple to purple corolla that is 9 to 10 mm (0.35 to 0.39 in) long. It is very closely related to Salvia nemorosa, and is distinguished by having purple-red bracts.